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THE  NEGRO  RACES 


IS9 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 

A  Sociological  Study 

VOLUME  I 
West  Africans 
Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company, 
New  York,  in  1907 

VOLmiE  II 
East  Africans  and  South  Africans 
Published  by  the  Neale  Publishing  Company, 
New  York,  in  1913 

VOLUME,  III 
The  Negroes  of  America 
Now  in  the  Course  of  Preparation  by  the  Author 

The  price  of  each  volume  of  the  series  is  $2.50  net; 
by  mail,  $2.70.  All  three  volumes  may  now  be  or- 
dered of  The  Neale  Publishing  Company.  Immedi- 
ately on  publication  orders  now  filed  for  the  third 
volume  with  The  Neale  Publishing  Company  will  be 
filled. 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
Union  Square  New  York 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 

A  Sociological  Study 


VOLUME  II 


BY 

JEROME  DOWD 


NEW  YORK 
THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1914 


Copyright.  1914,  by 
The  Neaix  Publishing  Compakt 


PEEFACE 


The  author  presents  herewith  the  second  volume 
of  his  proposed  series  of  sociological  studies  of  man- 
kind from  the  standpoint  of  race. 

The  division  of  Africa  into  separate  economic 
zones  is  not  susceptible  of  exact  demarcation  for 
the  same  reason  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  draw 
a  precise  dividing  line  in  Asia  between  the  agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  regions,  or  in  North  America  be- 
tween the  cotton  and  wheat  belts.  Nevertheless 
these  different  areas,  when  looked  at  broadly,  reveal 
very  distinct  characteristics  and  exercise  a  pro- 
found and  determining  influence  upon  the  social  and 
psychological  life  of  the  people. 

Jerome  Dowd. 

Norman,  Okla.,  June  12,  1913. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PART  I 
THE  GALLAS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I   The  Nubians  of  the  Goat  Zone    ....  15 
II   The  Nubians  of  the  Goat  Zone  (continued)  26 

III  The  Gallas,  Somalis,  Etc.,  of  the  Northern 

Cattle  Zone  37 

IV  The  Gallas,  Somalis,  Etc.,  of  the  Northern 

Cattle  Zone  (continued)  47 

V   The  Gallas,  Somalis,  Etc.,  of  the  Northern 

Cattle  Zone  (continued)  59 

VI    The  Gallas,  Somalis,  Etc.,  of  the  Northern 

Cattle  Zone  (continued)  69 

VII    The  Andorobo  and  Other  Mixed  Tribes  of 

THE  Forest  Zone  77 

VIII    The  Niam-Niam  of  the  Eleusine  Zone    .    .  79 

IX    The  Niam-Niam  of  the  Eleusine  Zone  (con- 
tinued) 90 

X   The  Monbuttu  of  the  Banana  Zone     .    .  99 

XI    The  Monbuttu  of  the  Banana  Zone  (con- 
tinued)  108 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PART  II 

THE  BANTUS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII   The  Bantus  of  the  Eastern  Banana  Zone  124 

XIII  The  Bantus  of  the  Eastern  Banana  Zone 

(continued)  138 

XIV  The  Bantus  of  the  Western  Banana  Zone  156 

XY   The  Bantus  of  the  Western  Banana  Zone 

(continued)  165 

XYI    The  Bantus  of  the  Western  Banana  Zone 

(continued)  182 

XVII   Bantus  of  the  Manioc  Zone  194 

XVIII   Bantus  OF  THE  Manioc  Zone  (continued)    .  212 
XIX   The  Bantus  of  the  Southern  Cattle  Zone  233 

XX    The  Bantus  of  the  Southern  Cattle  Zone 

(continued)  243 

XXI    The  Bantus  of  the  Southern  Cattle  Zone 

(continued)  262 

XXII   The  Negroes  OF  THE  East  283 

XXIII  Origin  of  the  Negro  Race  285 

XXIV  The  Negroes  of  Liberia  290 

Bibliography  293 

Index-  301 


PART  I 
THE  GALLAS 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


CHAPTEE  I 

THE  NUBIANS  OF  THE  GOAT  ZONE 

General  Character  of  the  Zone. — This  zone  com- 
prises the  country  knowTi  as  Nubia,  lying  between 
the  Nile  and  the  Eed  Sea,  and  extending  from 
Assuan  near  the  first  cataract  to  Khartum  at 
the  conflux  of  the  White  and  Blue  Niles.  It  is 
mainly  arid  wastes,  rocky  in  the  east  and  sandy  in 
the  west,  relieved  here  and  there  by  grassy  steppe- 
lands  and  small  oases.  Inland  and  parallel  to  the 
Eed  Sea  and  tbe  Nile  are  moderately  elevated  hills, 
separated  from  the  Abyssinian  plateau  by  deep  de- 
pressions and  dried  river  beds,  called  wadys.  Some 
of  the  elevations  skirting  the  Eed  Sea  near  Cape 
Elba  rise  to  the  height  of  6,900  feet  *  and  other  peaks 
in  the  northern  districts  range  from  4,000  to  6,000 
feet.  These  mountains  run  transversely  either  from 
the  east  to  the  west  or  from  the  northeast  to  the 
southwest.2  They  are  broken  by  low  passes  and 
sandy  plains.  On  the  western  slope,  leading  towards 
the  Nile,  are  numerous  wadys,  occasionally  flushed 

1  Standford,  I,  p.  547.  2  Reclus,  I,  p.  285. 

15 


16 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


by  sudden  fresliets  from  the  uplands,  retaining  some 
moisture  in  the  deeper  depressions.  ^^Tliis  mois- 
ture supports  a  scanty  vegetation  of  coarse  grasses 
and  thorny  scrubs,  some  of  which  afford  excellent 
fodder  for  camels,  sheep  and  goats.'' ^ 

In  the  south  is  a  region,  Taka,  of  considerable 
fertility,  being  well  watered  by  streams  from  Abys- 
sinia. It  contains  tropical  forests,  extensive  pas- 
tures and  arable  tracts.  Besides  Taka  the  only  fer- 
tile and  permanently  habitable  region  is  the  valley 
of  the  Xile  itself,  which  is  narrow  and  often 
hemmed  in  between  granite  and  sandstone  hills. 

*'The  greater  part  of  the  land  lies  almost  within 
the  rainless  zone,  for  the  tropical  rains  are  now  ar- 
rested about  the  latitude  of  Khartum."-*  The 
climate  is  dry  and  hot,  the  temperature  varying 
from  44°  to  104°  Fahrenheit.^  Except  in  Taka  the 
natural  flora  is  very  poor,  and  consists  chiefly  of  the 
date  palm,  doom  palm,  lentils,  senna,  and  several 
varieties  of  gTim  trees.  Wild  animals  are  rare  ex- 
cept in  the  south  where  the  elephant,  lion,  panther, 
rhinoceros,  giraff,  hyena  and  wild  boar  are  met. 
The  crocodile  and  hippopotamus  infest  the  upper 
streams,  and  the  leopard  and  antelope  are  found  in 
the  mimosa  forests  on  the  banks  of  the  White  Nile.^ 
Among  the  birds  are  the  stork,  goose,  partridge,  ibis 
and  ostrich.'^ 

3  Stanford,  T,  p.  551. 

4  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  XVII.  p.  611.    Old  Edition. 

5  Stanford,  I,  p.  520. 

6  Reclus,  I,  p.  292. 

7  Ibid.,  I,  p.  292. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


17 


The  Inhabitants. — In  a  great  part  of  Central, 
Eastern  and  Northern  Africa  are  groups  of  Negroes 
of  a  lighter  color  and  more  Caucasian  physiognomy 
than  those  of  the  other  sections  of  the  continent,  and, 
for  lack  of  a  better  ethnological  term  to  characterize 
them,  they  will  be  referred  to  in  this  book  as  the 
Gallas,  for  the  reason  that  the  country  known  as 
Galla  was  probably  the  door  of  entrance  of  this  type 
into  Africa. 

The  northernmost  branch  of  this  type  are  the  Nu- 
bians, also  called  Nubas,  Ethiopians,  Kushito- 
Hamites,  including  the  Bejas,  and  Ababdehs, 
Hamans,  Hadendowas,  etc. 

The  first  historic  inhabitants  south  of  Egypt  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  Uaua  whose  name  occurs  in 
an  inscription  on  a  tomb  at  Memphis  of  the  VI 
Dynasty  about  2,500  B.  C.  Throughout  the  histori- 
cal period,  down  to  the  arrival  of  the  Eomans,  the 
Nile  above  Egj^pt  was  occupied  by  a  Negro  people. 
In  the  third  century  the  domain  of  these  people  be- 
gan to  be  encroached  upon  by  the  Hamitic  tribes 
from  the  east,  known  as  the  Blemmyes  or  Bejas. 
The  raids  of  these  tribes  caused  Diocletian  to  with- 
draw the  garrisons  above  the  cataracts.  Some  Ne- 
gro tribes  originally  from  Kordofan  known  as  the 
Nebatae  were  called  in  to  protect  the  frontier  from 
the  attacks  of  the  Blemmyes.  These  Nebatae  passed 
into  the  Nile  valley,  absorbed  the  other  kindred 
Uaua  stock  and  came  to  terms  with  the  Blemmyes. 
The  two  races  intermingled,  and,  making  common 
cause  against  the  Eomans,  were  defeated  by  Max- 


18 


THE  NBGEO  EACES 


iminus  in  451.  Thus  the  Nubians  were  first  affected 
by  the  Hamitic  elements. 

This  new  negroid  race  was  now,  545  A.  D.,  con- 
verted to  Christianity  and  welded  into  a  great  po- 
litical power  under  the  leadership  of  Silko.  The 
remnant  of  Blemmyes  in  the  population,  remaining 
pagan,  were  driven  back  eastward  among  their  kin- 
dred Hamites  who  from  time  immemorial  had  held 
the  steppe  region  between  the  Nile  and  the  Eed  Sea. 
Here  they  became  known  as  the  Bejas. 

Soon  after  overrunning  Egypt,  639,  the  Arabs 
penetrated  into  Lower  Nubia  and  amalgamated  with 
the  natives.  In  the  fourteenth  century  they  over- 
threw the  Christian  Dongola  kingdom,  aided  by  a 
detachment  of  Bosnians,  sent  from  Turkey,  who 
settled  in  the  country  and  intermarried  with  the 
Arabs  and  Nubians,  their  descendants  still  holding 
lands  between  Assuan  and  Derr.  Hence  it  is  that 
the  Nubians  of  this  district,  fairest  of  all  the  race, 
still  claim  Arab  and  Bosnian  descent.  Thus  were 
the  Nubians  affected  in  the  second  instance  by  the 
Semitic  and  European  elements.  Nevertheless, 
they  remain  essentially  Negro. 

They  are  marked  by  very  dolichocephalic  head, 
long  sinuous  limbs,  rather  long  frizzy  hair,  inter- 
mediate between  the  curly  hair  of  the  Arab  and  the 
woolly  hair  of  the  Negro.  They  have  an  oval  face, 
dark  mahogany  or  bronze  skin,  tumid  lips,  thick 
but  not  snoutlike,  large  black  eyes,  and  prominent 
narrow  nose.^    Eace  intermixture  counts  for  most, 

8  Stanford,  I,  pp.  589,  591;  Ratzel,  III,  p.  192;  Deniker,  p.  439; 
Combes,  I,  p.  244;  Hahn,  p.  539. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


19 


perhaps,  in  the  present  type,  but  unquestionably  cli- 
matic influences  have  been  important  factors. 

Economic  Life. — Except  along  the  Nile  valley  and 
in  a  few  districts  in  Taka,  the  Nubians  are  a  pastoral 
people.  The  Bejas  of  the  middle  desert  region,  and 
the  Ababdeh  and  Bisharin  of  the  southern  steppe  are 
typical  nomad  pastors.^ 

The  domestic  animals  are  the  horse,  camel,  sheep, 
goat,  ox  and  buffalo,^^  but  the  chief  of  these  is  the 
goat,  since  it  has  been  the  most  important  factor  in 
determining  the  life  and  institutions  of  the  people. 
It  was  probably  the  first  animal  domesticated  in 
Africa.^^  The  horse  and  camel  are  comparatively 
recent  importations.^^  The  horse  and  cow  do  not 
thrive  in  the  desert  owing  to  the  rareness  of  grami- 
naceous vegetation.  A  plant  called  ^^Faleslez'^  is 
poison  to  the  horse  and  ass.^^  The  goat  satisfies 
three  prime  needs  of  the  people :  nourishment,  cloth- 
ing, and  lodgment,  the  tents  being  made  of  its  hide. 
The  goat's  milk  nourishes  the  tribes  during  a  great 
part  of  the  year,  but  in  the  winter  months  of  Janu- 
ary and  February  the  winds  from  the  north  wither 
and  dry  up  the  leaves  and  small  branches  of  plants, 
and  they  fall  to  the  ground  as  if  burnt  by  fire.  The 
goat  and  camel  then  suffer  from  hunger  and  diffi- 
culty in  breathing. 

sHahn,  p.  115. 

10  Ratzel,  History  of  Mankind,  III,  p.  187. 

11  Hahn  says  that  the  earliest  known  goats  were  those  from 
Teneriffa  of  the  Nile  Valley.    "Die  Haustiere/'  p.  142. 

12  Reclus,  I,  p.  292. 

13  Pr6ville,  p.  42. 


20 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


To  compensate  for  tlie  scant  supply  of  animal 
food  nature  furnishes  a  nourishing  product  from  a 
gum  tree,  acacia  mimosa,  which  grows  throughout 
the  country.  The  dry  air  cracks  the  bark  from 
which  oozes  a  sap,  forming  transparent  globules 
which  adhere  to  the  trunk.  This  gum  is  easily  col- 
lected. It  is  eaten  by  itself  or  mixed  with  milk. 
The  date  is  another  supplementary  source  of  food- 
supply.  A  small  bag  of  dates  suffices  for  a  jour- 
ney of  several  days.^^ 

Agriculture  in  northern  Nubia  is  adapted  to  the 
cereals,  and  here  the  horse  abounds,  but  the  culti- 
vated area  is  small,  and  the  limitation  of  resources 
forces  a  part  of  the  population  to  migrate  to  Egypt. 
The  date  palm  is  one  of  the  chief  products  of  this 
district.  The  narrow  valleys  along  the  Nile  are  here 
and  there  inhabited  by  sedentary  people  who  culti- 
vate the  soil  by  irrigation.  The  products  are  durra 
(sorghum  vidgare),  beans,  lupins,  cotton,  tobacco, 
and  some  maize,  wheat  and  barley.  The  grain  crops 
are  preserved  in  cylinders  of  clay  placed  upon  tall 
stones.  Oranges  and  citrons  are  cultivated  in  some 
of  the  gardens. In  the  valleys  of  the  Atbara  and 
the  Mareb  rivers  the  agricultural  areas  are  larger 
and  more  fertile.  In  this  district,  on  account  of  the 
insects,  the  domestic  animals  are  kept  in  barns  dur- 
ing the  day  and  let  out  to  graze  at  night. The 
area  suitable  for  cultivation  in  the  whole  of  Nubia 

i4lrby,  p.  114. 

isEatzel,  III,  p.  210;  Reelus,  I,  p.  292. 
leReclus,  I,  p.  221. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


21 


is  so  circumscribed  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  over- 
population and  emigration.  Some  of  the  surplus 
population  find  employment  in  various  menial  capac- 
ities in  the  trade  towns,  some  have  founded  settle- 
ments in  Kordofan,  the  cradle  of  the  race,  while 
others  have  enlisted  as  mercenaries  with  the  Arab 
traders  and  slavers. 

Cotton  is  manufactured  into  coarse  cloth,  and 
various  garments  are  made  from  the  wool  of  the 
sheep  and  goat.  There  is  some  manufacture  of  pot- 
tery, and  articles  of  gold,  silver  and  iron.  The 
practical  arts  failed  to  reach  Nubia  from  the  Lower 
Nile  on  account  of  the  intervening  desert.^^ 

The  chief  trade  of  Nubia  has  followed  almost  en- 
tirely the  course  of  the  Nile,  but  there  has  been  a 
limited  commerce  between  the  interior  and  the  Ked 
Sea.  One  of  the  routes  is  between  the  Eed  Sea  and 
Kaasala,  along  the  bed  of  the  Baraka  river,  which  is 
dry  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year.  It  con- 
nects the  coast  with  the  fertile  districts  of  Taka.^^ 
The  most  frequented  route  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red 
Sea  is  that  extending  from  Berber  to  Suakin,  now 
traversed  by  railroad.  Formerly  20,000  camels 
laden  with  gum  annually  passed  across  from  Ber- 
ber.2^  The  trade  in  ivory,  gold  and  slaves  used  to 
be  extensive  between  Nubia  and  Egypt,^^  but  the  ex- 

17  Stanford,  I,  p.  590. 

18  Frobenius,  "The  Origin  of  African  Civilizations,"  Annual  Report 
Smithsonian  Institute,  1898. 

19  Stanford,  I,  p.  568. 
20E,eclus,  I,  p.  253. 
21  Reclus,  I,  p.  284. 


22 


THE  NEGEO  RACES 


haustion  of  these  articles  of  commerce  caused  the 
natives  in  their  distress  to  wage  war  npon  each 
other  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  The  settlements  were 
turned  into  garrisons,  fortified  by  hedges  or  stock- 
ades, as  a  basis  for  raids.  The  settlements  on  the 
Upper  Nile  are  now  partly  trade  depots,  partly  ar- 
senals and  partly  plantations.^^  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  trade  centers  and  caravan  stations  along  the 
Nubian  Nile.  A  large  traffic  passes  through  Nubia 
by  boat  and  caravan  between  the  Sudan  and  Egypt. 
Since  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  the  exports 
have  been  limited  chiefly  to  senna,  grain,  leeches, 
musk  and  honey. 

Although  the  slave  trade  is  now  quite  extinct  in 
Nubia,  domestic  slavery  is  still  common.  Along  the 
Nile  valley  the  slaves  are  used  for  agriculture,  and 
among  the  nomad  tribes  of  the  interior  they  are 
used  for  tending  the  herds  and  as  porters.  Pas- 
toral people  generally  have  little  need  for  slaves.^^ 
The  primary  cause  of  slavery  is  found  in  the  dis- 
agreeableness  of  the  labor  and  the  effort  to  shift  the 
burden.  But,  as  pointed  out  by  Cooley,  the  shifting 
of  the  burden  upon  others  is  due  to  lack  of  fellowship. 
Among  civilized  people  where  good  fellowship  ob- 
tains, the  most  drudging  work  will  not  be  shirked 
but  borne  with  patience  and  even  with  pleasure. 
For  example,  members  of  a  camping  party  do  not 
object  to  cutting  wood,  drawing  water  or  washing 

22  Ratzel,  III,  p.  214. 

23  Dowd,  "The  Negro  Races,"  I,  pp.  122,  128. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


23 


dislies.24  On  account  of  the  good  fellowsMp  which 
usually  prevails  in  small  groups  or  tribes,  the  first 
slaves  were  probably  introduced  from  outside.  Ac- 
cording to  Sumner,  slavery  is  **due  to  ill  feeling 
towards  members  of  an  outer-group,  to  desire  to  get 
something  for  nothing,  to  love  of  dominion  which 
belongs  to  vanity,  and  to  hatred  of  labor."  The 
last  fact  named  is  the  primary  one. 

Family  Life. — The  Nubians  generally  obtain  their 
wives  by  purchase,  but  in  some  districts  capture  of 
women  is  still  in  vogue.^^  The  marriage  ceremony 
recalls  the  practice  of  wife-capture  which  at  a 
former  time  was  more  prevalent.  The  natives  of 
Nubia  are  probably  immigrants  from  the  Galla 
country  where  hunting  and  wife-capture  were  once 
universal.  The  ruling  class  form  a  strict  caste,  and 
do  not  allow  common  men  to  marry  into  it.^* 
Though  polygamy  is  permitted,  monogamy  is  the 
prevailing  practice.  Young  girls  are  valuable  to 
their  parents  as  economic  factors,  and  they  command 
a  good  price.  Owing  to  the  difficulties  of  existence 
few  men  are  able  to  afford  a  plurality  of  wives. 
Marriage  is  an  affair  of  the  girPs  parents.^^  Chas- 
tity before  marriage  is  esteemed  by  the  men,  but 
neither  married  nor  single  women  are  adverse  to 
intrigues.  The  Barea  tribes  make  no  discrimina- 
tion against  illegitimate  children.^*^    The  necessary 


24 ''Social  Organization,"  p.  245. 

25  Folkways,  p.  261. 

26  Ratzel,  III,  p.  187. 
2T  Ibid.,  p.  219. 


28  Reclus,  I,  p.  238. 

29  Combes,  I,  p.  14. 
soReclus,  I,  p.  231. 


24 


THE  NEGRO  EACES 


commingling  of  men  and  women  in  a  pastoral  group 
exposes  both  sexes  to  temptation. 

The  houses  of  the  settled  tribes  are  made  of  clay 
tiles  with  wooden  framework,  or  of  straw  and 
reeds,  or  of  palm  leaves.  The  herdsmen  live  in 
shokabs,  huts  which  can  be  struck  like  tents  and 
loaded  onto  camels.  The  walls  consist  of  thin  rods 
interlaced  like  mats  and  capable  of  being  rolled  up. 
^^The  roof  is  made  of  black  goat's  hair.  In  the 
south  the  huts  are  made  of  the  leaves  of  the  doom 
palm."^^  The  furniture  of  the  homes  consists 
chiefly  of  a  framework,  with  leather  straps,  which 
serves  as  a  bed,  sofa  or  table.^- 

The  support  of  the  family  among  the  sedentary 
groups  falls  upon  the  women  almost  exclusively. 
The  men  help  in  a  precarious  way  by  hunting,  fish- 
ing and  raiding.  In  the  nomad  groups  the  men  give 
more  substantial  and  regular  assistance  by  protect- 
ing the  group  and  tending  the  herds.  Women  oc- 
cupy relatively  a  high  position.^^  If  a  man  insults 
or  speaks  rudely  to  a  woman  he  is  driven  from  the  tent 
and  can  gain  readmittance  only  by  presenting  to  her 
a  cow  and  camel.^^  It  is  said  that  a  married  woman 
in  some  tribes  reserves  every  fourth  day  to  do  as 
she  pleases.  Nomadism  everj^here  seems  to  give  to 
women  a  certain  independence.^^  This  is  because 
they  have  to  work  semi-publicly.    They,  as  the  men, 

31  Reclus,  III.  p.  207. 

32  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  460. 

33  Eeclus,  I,  pp.  223,  237. 
Si  Ibid.,  p.  238. 

35  Huntington,  p.  129. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


25 


must  meet  and  mingle  witli  strangers,  and  they  thus 
acquire  a  certain  boldness.^^  They  often  have  to 
take  the  initiative,  and  this  develops  in  them  a  power 
of  self-command  which  causes  them  to  be  respected.^^ 
The  employment  of  slaves,  and  the  use  of  the  horse, 
camel  and  ox  as  beasts  of  burden,  here  as  elsewhere, 
have  tended  to  alleviate  the  status  of  the  free  women 
by  relieving  them  of  the  task  of  porterage.  The 
first  emancipator  of  the  free  women  was  the  slave. 
Higher  up  in  civilization  the  position  of  women  has 
been  elevated  by  the  harnessing  of  the  wind,  water, 
steam  and  electricity  to  perform  the  heavy  tasks.^^ 
Economic,  rather  than  moral,  forces  everywhere  ex- 
plain the  improvement  in  the  status  of  women. 

The  Nubians  generally  trace  descent  in  the  fe- 
male line.^^ 


3G  Huntington,  p.  129. 
37  Ibid.,  p.  132. 


38  Sumner,  p.  266. 

39  Ratzel,  III,  p.  187. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  NUBIANS  OF  THE  GOAT  ZONE  {continued) 

Political  Life. — Tlie  Nubian  environment  modifies 
the  political  life  in  several  particulars.  In  the  first 
place  the  country  being  relatively  healthful,  the  pop- 
ulation has  a  tendency,  common  among  all  pastoral 
people,  to  increase  beyond  the  means  of  subsistence. 
The  area  available  for  cultivation  or  for  pastures  is 
absolutely  limited,  and  the  surplus  population  in  each 
group,  not  being  able  to  find  new  land,  is  tempted 
to  rob  and  raid  the  neighboring  group.  Hence  the 
life  of  the  people  is  organized  on  a  military  basis 
for  defense  and  attack.  A  separate  warrior  caste 
of  unmarried  men  is  set  apart  for  executing  raids, 
— a  caste  such  as  is  found,  for  similar  reasons, 
throughout  the  pastoral  regions  of  East  Africa.^ 

In  the  elevated  districts  of  this  zone  the  army 
consists  only  of  infantry,  owing  to  the  poisonous 
vegetation  which  is  fatal  to  the  horse  and  ass.  In 
the  low  plains  it  is  composed  of  men  mounted  upon 
the  vigorous  and  rapid  Arab  ass.^ 

The  scant  and  scattered  nature  of  the  resources 
does  not  permit  the  massing  of  a  large  fighting  force, 
and  hence  there  is  a  lack  of  political  unity.^  The 

1  Ratzel,  II,  p.  408.      2  Prfiville,  p.  42.         s  Reclus,  I,  p.  234. 

26 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


27 


military  operations  are  mostly  expeditions  of  plun- 
der. For  this  purpose  the  mounted  men  are  well 
equipped.  They  can  strike  at  a  considerate  distance 
and  escape  the  disaster  of  defeat  by  rapid  flight. 
Eaiding  is  so  common  that  every  man  carries  at  all 
times  his  dagger  and  sword.^  Marauding  tend- 
encies, ' '  says  Semple,  *  *  are  ingrained  in  all  dwellers 
of  the  deserts  and  steppes. 

Each  community  is  governed  by  an  hereditary 
Mohammedan  chief.  The  diffusion  of  property 
among  pastoral  people  generates  a  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence which  is  opposed  to  the  absolute  form  of 
government,  but  the  military  organization,  neces- 
sitated by  the  conditions  in  Africa,  often  leads  to 
personal  despotism.  A  despotism,  however,  among 
pastoral  people  does  not  imply  that  degree  of  ab- 
jectness  of  the  subjects  which  characterizes  societies 
where  property  and  property-rights  are  less  de- 
veloped. Among  the  Nubians  rulership  must  be 
firm,  since  otherwise  peace  could  not  be  maintained 
among  the  individual  families  which  would  wrangle 
over  the  herds  and  the  collection  of  gum.^  An  ob- 
jectionable chief,  however,  is  sometimes  deposed  or 
hanged.'''  As  for  the  relation  of  one  group  to  an- 
other all  is  anarchy  and  independence,  due  to  the  re- 
moteness of  the  populations  from  any  accessible  cen- 
tral power.^  The  internal  government  of  the  tribes 
is  in  most  cases  left  to  the  law  of  retaliation,  but 


4lrby,  p.  115. 

B  Page  490. 

6  PrgviUe,  p.  45. 


f  Reclus,  I,  p.  225. 

8Pr6ville,  p.  45;  Reclus,  I,  p.  231. 


28 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


among  the  Barea  there  is  an  assembly  to  settle  all 
disputes.^  The  Nubians  are  protected  in  their  ter- 
ritory by  the  nature  of  their  country.  Invaders 
from  the  north  would  have  to  depend  on  the  horse 
for  transportation,  and  this  animal  would  perish 
in  the  desert.  Invaders  from  the  Abyssinian  pla- 
teau of  the  south  would  be  arrested  by  the  scarcity 
of  water  and  the  inadaptability  of  the  people  to  a 
mephitic  atmosphere. 

Religious  Life.— The  greater  part  of  the  Nubians 
have  long  been  zealous  Mohammedans,  governed,  as 
the  Arab  nomads,  by  hereditary  sheikhs.  But  they 
are  by  no  means  fanatical.^^  Some  of  the  more  iso- 
lated tribes,  however,  have  not  advanced  beyond  the 
stage  of  animism.^ ^  They  venerate  the  partridge 
and  the  serpent.^^ 

The  severe  struggle  against  nature  for  existence 
develops  a  degree  of  courage  and  intelligence  that 
renders  the  mind  inhospitable  to  the  grosser  forms 
of  superstition.  The  phenomena  of  nature  are  uni- 
form and  mild,  and  on  that  account  the  people  are 
not  so  terror-stricken  as  the  natives  of  other  parts 
of  Africa.  There  is,  however,  little  in  the  environ- 
ment that  the  people  can  change,  and  consequently 
they  have  a  disposition,  common  among  desert  peo- 
ple, to  submit  stoically  to  its  decrees.  The  magic 
doctor,  human  sacrifices,  and  idol  worship,  so 
characteristic  of  Central  Africa,  are  scarcely  found 
among  the  Nubians.    Their  superstitions  are  mani- 


9  Reclus,  I,  p.  231.  n  Reclus,  I,  p.  225. 

10  Stanford,  I,  pp.  590,  592.  12  Hid.,  p.  297. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


29 


fested  mostly  by  the  wearing  of  cliarms  to  keep  off 
the  evil  eye,  etc.^^ 

Information  on  the  subject  of  ancestor  worship 
is  lacking,  but  inferring  from  a  general  principle, 
it  should  not  be  highly  developed.  Restless  no- 
mads,says  Frobenius,  ^'are  seldom  reminded  of 
their  past:  hence  the  tendency  towards  worship  of 
the  manes  and  of  ancestors  is  slight  among  them. 
On  the  other  hand,  turn  in  whatever  direction  they 
will,  island  races  encounter  traces  of  their  former 
life.  The  natives  of  Oceania  know  some  tale  to  tell 
of  every  locality:  likewise  the  mythology  connected 
with  manes  flourishes  in  West  Africa." 

Ceremonious  Life. — Aside  from  the  marriage 
ceremony,  which  in  some  cases  simulates  wife-cap- 
ture, and  some  formalities  of  greeting  and  parting, 
ceremony  does  not  seem  to  have  much  place  among 
the  Nubians.  Strangers  coming  into  the  tribe  are 
required  to  undergo  the  ceremony  of  blood-brother- 
hood. **A  sheep  or  goat  is  killed  and  the  blood  re- 
ceived in  a  calabash  in  which  all  the  assistants  dip 
their  hands,  and  then  embrace.  Henceforth  the 
stranger  is  safe  from  all  attack.'' 

Aesthetic  Life. — The  Nubians  show  the  Negro  love 
of  personal  decoration.  The  men  tattoo  their  faces 
as  a  mark  of  success  in  war.  The  women  also  in  some 
tribes  tattoo  their  faces,  forming  "little  pustules 
like  those  of  smallpox."    The  ear  lobes  and  septum 

islrby,  p.  113. 

14  "The  Origin  of  African  Civilizations,"  p.  647. 

15  Reclus,  I,  p.  225. 


30  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


of  the  nose  are  bored  for  the  insertion  of  rings. In 
some  tribes  the  warriors  paint  their  bodies  red. 
The  women  generally  wear  bracelets  and  anklets  of 
beads  and  shells,  silver  finger  rings  set  with  cor- 
nelians, strings  of  the  same  stone  round  the  waist, 
and  necklaces  of  glass  and  even  of  amber.^"^  The 
Nubian  women  wear  their  hair  in  plaited  ringlets 
or  in  the  form  of  a  bushy  mop.^^ 

The  dress  of  the  men  consists  of  a  loose  white 
shirt  and  a  turban.  In  a  few  tribes  the  men  are 
uncovered  except  for  a  cloth  round  the  waist.^^ 
The  young  girls  wear  loin  strips  ornamented  with 
cowry  shells  and  beads.^^  The  women  wear  a  brown 
garment  reaching  to  their  knees.^^ 

The  same  causes  that  limit  the  industrial  life  also 
limit  the  development  of  art.  Since  the  plastic  arts, 
or  arts  of  rest,  cannot  be  fostered  under  nomadism, 
being  too  inconvenient  to  transport,  the  arts  of  mo- 
tion receive  an  accentuation.  Dancing  is  universal : 
among  the  nomad  groups  it  is  individualistic  and 
solitary,  while  among  the  sedentary  groups  it  is 
en  masse  or  social.  Vocal  music  is  highly  de- 
veloped, and  most  tribes  are  acquainted  with  rude 
poetry.  It  would  be  surprising  if  the  Nubians  had 
not  been  influenced  by  the  Arab  talent  for  poetry 
and  song  expressing  the  sentiments  of  love  and  re- 

18  Eeclus,  I,  p.  224 :    Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al,  p.  440. 
iTRatzel,  III,  p.  204;  Irby,  p.  116. 
18  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al,  p.  434. 
18  Irby,  p.  113. 

20  Irby,  116. 

21  Irby,  p.  116. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


31 


ligion.  Judging  from  the  general  desolation  of  the 
environment  and  the  isolation  of  the  groups  the 
music  should  be  of  a  melancholy  strain. 

Psychological  Life. — No  reliable  data  are  available 
concerning  the  cranial  capacity  of  the  Nubians,  but 
it  is  a  fair  inference  from  the  admixture  of  Hamitic 
and  Semitic  blood  that  it  is  above  the  average  of  the 
African  Negro.  In  general  intelligence,  however, 
the  Nubians  exhibit  no  marked  superiority.  Dunn 
thinks  that  pastoral  people  are  stationary  and  do 
not  develop  brain  power.^^  Such  mental  character- 
istics as  the  Nubians  possess  are  amply  accounted 
for  by  environment. 

The  isolation  of  the  nomad  groups  develops  sus- 
picion, and  also  would  produce  cowardice,  as  among 
the  isolated  Asiatics,^^  but  for  the  frequent  occasions 
of  war  which  stimulate  their  pugnacity.  Their  wild 
life  and  self-reliance  give  them  a  common  love  of 
freedom.^^  They  have  a  strong  attachment  to  their 
group,  and  a  spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness  growing 
out  of  their  hardships  and  dependence  upon  each 
other.  They  are  proud,  obstinate  and  domineer- 
ing,^^  and  belong  to  what  Giddings  calls  the  dog- 
matic-emotional type  of  mind,^^  or  what  Ribot  calls 
the  mediocre  active.^^  Their  vigor  of  body  and  reso- 
lute mind  give  them  a  predominant  feeling  of  force- 

22lrby,  17. 

23  Huntington,  p.  24. 

24  Stanford,  I,  p.  592 ;  Reclus,  I,  pp.  239,  297. 

25  Semple,  pp.  497,  510. 

26  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  87. 

27  Page  396. 


32  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


fulness.^^  Perhaps  tlie  electrical  atmosphere  char- 
acteristic of  arid  plains  imparts  a  degree  of  nervous 
energy *^The  dry,  pure  air  stimulates  the  facul- 
ties of  the  desert-dweller,"  says  Ellen  Semple,  *^but 
the  featureless,  monotonous  surroundings  furnish 
them  with  little  to  work  upon.  The  mind,  finding 
scant  material  for  sustained  logical  deduction,  falls 
back  upon  contemplation.  Intellectual  activity  is 
therefore  restricted,  narrow,  unproductive ;  while  the 
imagination  is  unfettered  but  also  unfed.  The 
nomad  Nubians  are  wary  and  keen  witted.  Hard 
natural  conditions  and  adverse  social  environ- 
ment are  apt  to  compel  alertness.  The  Jew,  for 
example,  owes  his  shrewdness  to  social  opposi- 
tion and  deprivations,^^  and  the  Nubians  have 
to  thank  nature  for  a  shrewdness  uncommon 
among  the  Negroes.  The  sedentary  Nubians  have 
the  submissive  traits  common  to  slaves.^^  They 
are  also  given  more  to  laziness,  frivolity,  vice, 
and  are  less  honest  and  dependable.^^  A  similar 
contrast  is  found  in  Asia  between  the  nomad  and 
sedentary  peoples.^^    Of  the  latter  peoples  of  Asia 

28  Williams  classifies  the  moods  of  men  into  three  kinds  corre- 
sponding to  conditions  of  life  awakening  certain  predominant  feel- 
ings. First,  the  forceful  mood,  characterized  by  vigor,  strength, 
resolution  and  conviction.  Second,  the  expansive,  characterized  by- 
contentment,  restfulness,  cheerfulness,  good  will.  Third,  the  agi- 
tative,  characterized  by  weariness,  despondency,  anxiety,  etc.,  p.  741. 

29  Dexter,  p.  39. 

30  Page  512. 

31  Williams,  p.  760. 

32  Combes,  I,  p.  242. 

33  Reclus,  I,  p.  298. 

34  Huntington,  pp.  132,  361. 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


33 


Huntington  remarks,  Laziness  leads  to  dishonesty 
and  both  tend  to  insolence  and  vulgarity/' 

The  nomadic  Nubians  have  little  sense  of  nation- 
ality, because  of  the  isolation  of  the  groups.  A  sim- 
ilar lack  of  national  feeling  is  found  among  the  sed- 
entary people  of  Asia  for  the  same  reason.^^  The 
Nubians,  especially  the  nomad  groups,  are  extremely 
conservative,  and  bound  by  tradition.  Their  tra- 
dition is  of  that  low  order  which  contains  no  record 
of  reasoned  or  speculatively  acquired  knowledge.^^ 
All  pastoral  people  are  notoriously  conservative  be- 
cause the  simplicity  of  their  life  affords  little  food 
for  thought.  Their  traditions,  therefore,  are  based 
upon  impression  and  belief  rather  than  upon  crit- 
ically established  knowledge  which  makes  for  inno- 
vation.^^ 

All  of  the  Nubians  are  characterized  as  thievish, 
treacherous,  malicious,  *^base  and  full  of  wickedness 
and  lecher^'.'' There  is,  however,  reason  to  doubt 
the  justice  of  this  characterization.  Indeed,  the  psy- 
chological characteristics  of  the  African  Negro  have 
never  yet  been  correctly  reported  or  understood. 
The  reason  is  that  civilized  people  fail  to  measure  the 
Negro  by  a  rational  standard.  The  author  of  this 
volume  frankly  admits  his  failure,  in  his  tirst  volume, 

35Pag«  127. 

36  Huntington,  p.  138. 

37  Giddings  distinguishes  two  kinds  of  tradition  of  which  the 
higher  is  that  of  "conceptual  thought'*  as  opposed  to  "mere  im- 
pression and  belief."    Elements  of  Sociology,  p.  151. 

38  Giddings,  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  207. 

39  Stanford,  I,  p.  590;  Irby,  p.  113. 


34 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


to  interpret  correctly  these  characteristics.  The 
most  essential  starting  point  is  the  recognition  of  the 
difference  in  the  size  of  the  civilized  and  the  prim- 
itive cultural  group.  A  civilized  cultural  group 
embraces  sometimes  several  nations,  because  the  life 
of  the  people  is  so  interrelated  that  common  char- 
acteristics belong  to  the  whole  population.  In 
Africa  the  cultural  groups  are  small.  They  are 
sometimes  limited  to  a  single  family,  again  to  a 
small  tribe,  or  at  most  to  a  small  confederacy. 
Now,  the  point  is,  that  if  we  compare  the  traits  mani- 
fested within  a  civilized  group  with  the  traits  of 
Africans  manifested  between  opposing  groups,  the 
result  is,  of  course,  unfavorable  to  the  latter;  but 
that  is  the  usual  way  of  making  comparisons.  If 
we  reverse  this  point  of  view,  and  compare  the 
traits  of  Africans  manifested  towards  each  other 
within  the  small  group  with  the  traits  of  Europeans 
as  manifested  towards  members  outside  of  their 
group,  the  result  is  highly  favorable  to  the  Africans, 
and  the  civilized  people  take  rank  with  the  bar- 
barian and  the  savage.  In  support  of  this  state- 
ment it  is  only  necessary  to  recall  the  treatment  of 
the  native  Australian  by  the  English,  of  the  Congo 
Negro  by  the  Belgians,  of  the  frontier  Indians  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Tripolitans  by 
the  Italians,  or  the  attitude  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, Babylonians,  Assyrians,  Hebrews  and  classic 
nations  towards  all  strangers.  If  we  compare  the 
characteristics  of  civilized  and  uncivilized  people 


THE  GOAT  ZONE 


35 


as  manifested  within  their  respective  groups  we 
shall  discover  a  wonderful  likeness  of  fundamental 
traits.  For  instance,  if  we  compare  the  character- 
istics of  different  peoples,  as  manifested  in  their  re- 
spective family  group,  we  shall  find  everywhere  a 
common  moral  unity, — sympathy,  kindness,  truthful- 
ness, and  readiness  to  make  mutual  sacrifices.  In 
the  larger  group  of  the  tribe  there  is  a  common 
good  will,  hospitality,  a  willingness  to  fight  and  de- 
fend, a  resentment  towards  outside  oppression,  and 
a  distinct  respect  for  custom  and  justice,  just  as  in 
the  still  larger  civilized  group.  In  respect  to  the 
quality  of  kindness  *Hhe  main  difference  between 
civilization  and  savagery,''  says  Cooley,  is  that 
under  the  former  the  group  tends  to  enlarge. 
One  reason  for  the  restriction  is  that  kindness  is 
aroused  by  sympathy  and  can  have  little  life  except 
as  our  imaginations  are  opened  to  the  lives  of  others 
and  they  are  made  part  of  ourselves.'' The  fail- 
ure of  the  Negro  to  extend  these  primary  feelings 
is  due  to  the  difficulty  of  forming  and  maintaining 
confederated  groups,  resulting  from  a  lack  of  com- 
munication *Ho  give  that  promptness  in  the  give- 
and-take  of  suggestions  upon  which  moral  unity  de- 
pends." Hence,  in  this  volume  a  distinction  will 
be  drawn  between  the  characteristics  which  each 
group  manifests  among  themselves  and  those  mani- 
fested towards  foreigners.  Towards  alien  groups 
the  Nubians,  as  to  a  less  extent  the  English,  French 

40  "Social  Organization,"  p.  42.     4i  Ihid.,  p.  54. 


36 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


and  Germans,  are  hostile,  treacherous  and  cruel. 
Their  pugnacious  instinct  has  its  outlet  in  petty  wars, 
since  there  is  no  inviting  field  for  it  in  commercial 
competition,  and  social  and  scientific  rivalry. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  GALLAS,  SOMALIS,  ETC.,  OF  THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE 

ZONE 

General  Character  of  the  Zone. — From  the  south- 
ern Nubian  frontier  to  the  Zambesi  basin  there  is  a 
continuous  plateau,  varying  greatly  in  width,  with 
precipitous  escarpments  on  its  east  side,  but  sloping 
rather  gently  towards  the  west.  Abyssinia,  the 
northern  extension  of  this  plateau,  forms  a  vast 
table-land  whose  eastern  approaches  rise  sharply 
from  the  low-lying  coastlands.  Northward  it  falls 
in  broad  terraces  towards  the  plains  of  Nubia,  and 
westward  slopes  continuously  to  the  valley  of  the 
Blue  Nile,  and  southward  merges  into  the  less  ele- 
vated plateau  of  Gallaland.  The  mean  altitude  of 
the  country  is  about  9,000  feet.  Its  surface  is  rugged 
and  presents  ^ '  the  aspect  of  a  storm-tossed  sea  sud- 
denly solidified."  **The  eye  sweeps  over  a  bound- 
less vista  of  hilly  plains,  rugged  plateaux,  and  deep 
upland  valleys,  dominated  here  and  there  by  precip- 
itous mountain  masses,  towering  6,000  or  7,000  feet 
above  the  normal  level. ' '  ^  Some  of  the  peaks  run  up 
to  15,000  feet  and  are  snow-clad  for  a  great  part 
of  the  year.2 

1  Stanford,  I,  p.  450.  2  Goodrich,  p.  151. 

37 


38 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


Gallaland  is  a  southern  extension  of  tlie  Abys- 
sinian plateau,  and  resembles  it  in  general  relief  and 
altitude,  but  is  less  rugged.  It  also  has  precipitous 
escarpments  on  its  east  side  and  gentle  slopes 
towards  the  Nile  Valley.^  Many  of  the  isolated 
peaks  are  separated  by  crevasses  or  canyons,  like 
those  of  Colorado  or  Mexico,  sometimes  5,000  feet 
deep  and  scarcely  700  feet  wide. 

Somaliland,  the  triangular  projection  of  the  con- 
tinent, or  Eastern  Horn"  of  Africa,  is  still  less 
elevated,  and  takes  the  character  of  a  plain,  vary- 
ing in  its  northern  section  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet, 
in  its  southern  section  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet,  and 
falling  below  the  altitude  of  500  feet  near  the  coast."* 

Masailand  is  a  still  more  southern  continuation 
of  the  Abyssinian  plateau,  but  much  narrowed  and 
much  less  rugged  in  general  aspect.  The  altitude 
in  the  northern  division  is  from  5,000  to  9,000  feet. 
Through  the  line  of  highest  elevation  runs  a  trough 
which  encloses  a  chain  of  lakes.^  *'A  more  charm- 
ing region,"  says  Thomson,  *4s  probably  not  to  be 
found  in  all  Africa.  The  country  extends  in  bil- 
lowy, swelling  reaches  and  is  characterized  by  every- 
thing that  makes  a  pleasing  landscape.  Here  are 
patches  of  flowering  shrubs — there  noble  forests. 
Now  you  traverse  a  parklike  country  intervened  by 
groups  of  game ;  anon  great  herds  of  cattle  or  flocks 
of  sheep  and  goats  are  seen  wandering  knee-deep  in 
the  splendid  pasture."^    The  southern  division  of 


s  Stanford,  I,  p.  455. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  459. 


5  Thomson,  p.  407. 
elbid.,  p.  408. 


THE  NOETHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  39 


this  narrow  strip  ranges  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet 
in  height.  It  is  rather  sterile  and  unproductive, 
due  to  scant  rainfall,  and  it  produces  only  scattered 
tufts  of  grass/ 

A  spur  of  this  great  Abyssinian  plateau  branches 
off  from  southern  Gallaland  and  makes  a  half  circle 
on  the  west  side  of  Lake  Victoria. 

The  entire  plateau  is  well  watered  and  penetrated 
by  copious  rivers,  except  in  the  southern  limits  of 
Masailand.  The  climate  and  the  biological  condi- 
tions depend  more  upon  altitude  than  distance  from 
the  equator.  The  lower  slopes  of  the  plateau,  rang- 
ing from  5,000  to  6,000  feet  elevation,  have  a  tem- 
perature varying  from  70°  to  100°  F.,  and  a  luxuri- 
ant vegetation  with  large  areas  of  forest.  At  this 
elevation  cotton,  indigo,  gum-yielding  acacias,  ebony, 
boababs,  bananas,  sugar-cane,  coffee  and  the  date- 
palm  flourish;  and  here  also  the  animal  kingdom  is 
represented  by  the  lion,  elephant,  panther,  zebra, 
giraff,  gazelle,  huge  snakes  and  deadly  scorpions.^ 
The  higher  or  middle  region,  ranging  from  8,000  to 
9,000  feet  elevation,  has  a  temperature  like  that  of 
Spain  or  Italy,  varying  from  60°  to  70°  F.  Euro- 
pean grasses,  cereals,  and  shell-fruits  are  here  in- 
digenous. The  orange,  citron,  peach,  apricot,  and 
other  fruit  grow  plentifully,  and  in  the  depressions 
are  extensive  areas  of  forest.  Everywhere  the  soil 
affords  rich  pasture,  and  all  of  the  European  do- 
mesticated animals  thrive  there  except  the  pig.® 

7  Thomson,  p.  405;  Hahn,  p.  270.   9  Hid.,  p.  471. 

8  Stanford,  I,  p.  470. 


40  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Upon  the  higher  region  the  temperature  frequently 
falls  to  the  freezing  point.  The  large  timber  is 
scarce,  yielding  to  a  herbaceous  or  scrubby  vegeta- 
tion. Forage,  however,  can  be  found  for  the  cattle, 
goats  and  sheep  in  the  highest  altitude.  Gallaland, 
being  near  the  equator,  receives  a  greater  rainfall 
and  has  a  more  exuberant  and  diversified  flora  than 
Abyssinia,  while  Masailand  merges  into  desert. 
The  narrow  little  spur  ^est  of  Lake  Victoria  is 
cool  and  covered  by  a  short,  coarse  grass. 

The  Inhabitants. — ^A  type  of  Negro,  similar  in 
color  and  other  features  to  the  Nubians,  is  found 
in  the  grass  regions  of  the  table-lands  above  de- 
scribed. 

The  substratum  of  the  Abyssinian  population  is 
the  Agaw,  or  Ethiopian.  The  ruling  classes  are 
strongly  affected  with  Semitic  blood.^^  The  Galla 
population  represents  the  purest  Ethiopian  type,^^ 
which  may  be  explained  by  the  relative  inaccessibil- 
ity of  the  country,  and  its  greater  freedom  from  im- 
migration. The  type  is  characterized  by  a  lighter 
color,  and  even  Galla  slaves  in  Abyssinia  are  lighter 
than  the  native  rulers.  Some  writers  put  the  Gallas 
above  the  Arabs  in  lightness  of  color.^^  The  popu- 
lation of  Somaliland  is  considerably  mixed  with  the 
Arabs,  who  for  several  centuries  have  overrun  the 
country,  entering  it  from  the  eastern  coast  where 
its  exposure  tempts  invasion  from  Arabia.  The 
negroid  element,  however,  is  more  marked  among 

loWylde,  p.  16.  12  Ratzel,  II,  p.  485. 

iiDeniker,  p.  438. 


THE  NORTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  41 


the  Somali  than  among  the  Galla.  The  Masai 
population  is  unmixed  with  the  Arab,  and  while  not 
so  light  in  color  as  the  Galla,  it  is  in  some  respects 
a  finer  type.^^  According  to  Thomson,  the  Masai 
are  in  no  sense  negroes.  ...  In  their  cranial  de- 
velopment, as  in  their  language,  they  are  widely 
different  from  the  natives  of  Central  and  South 
Africa,  occupying  in  the  former  respect  a  far  higher 
position  in  the  scale  of  humanity."^*  The  aristo- 
cratic class  have  a  less  depressed  nose,  thinner  lips, 
and,  but  for  prominence  of  cheek-bones  and  Mon- 
golian eye,  chocolate  skin  and  frizzy  hair,  might  pass 
for  Europeans.^ ^  Their  eyes  are  bright  and  the 
sclerotic  coat  whiter  than  is  common  in  the  African. 
They  average  about  six  feet  in  height ;  they  are  spare 
in  figure  and  recall  the  Apollo  Type.'^  The  young 
women  are  especially  pleasing  in  their  physiog- 
nomy.^^ The  Wahuma,  or  Bahima,  who  occupy  the 
plateau  west  of  Lake  Victoria,  are  a  tall,  and  finely 
formed  race,  of  nutty-brown  color,  with  almost 
European  features.^^  They  have  oval  faces,  thin 
lips  and  straight  noses.  The  girls  are  often  beauti- 
ful, but  inclined  to  be  too  corpulent.  Their  move- 
ments are  languid  and  graceful.^^ 

13  Johnston,  "The  Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  803. 
"Page  411. 

15  Ibid.,  p.  413 ;  Kallenberg,  p.  92. 

16  Thomson,  p.  428. 

17  Ratzel,  III,  p.  1. 

18  Cunningham,  p.  21;  Junker,  III,  p.  550;  Johnston,  "The  Uganda 
Protectorate,"  p.  616 ;  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  386.  The 
ethnologist  Keane  classes  the  Galla,  Somali  and  Wahuma  with  the 
Caucasian  race.   Ethnology,  p.  380. 


42 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Economic  Life. — The  people  throughout  this  great 
table-land  are  for  the  most  part  pastoral,  although 
in  the  valleys  and  lowlands  may  be  found  sedentary 
groups  devoted  to  agriculture.^^  The  domesticated 
animals  are  abundant.  Abyssinia  is  estimated  to 
have  twenty  million  head  of  sheep  and  goats  besides 
great  herds  of  cattle.  A  Somali  family  has  about 
200  to  300  goats  or  sheep,  10  to  40  camels,  and  10  to 
20  cows.2^  The  Galla,  Masai,  Bahima,  Somali  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  Abyssinians  live  chiefly  upon 
animal  food,  particularly  the  flesh  and  milk  of  the 
cow.  The  Abyssinians  often  eat  raw  beef,  and,  on 
feast  days  especially,  drink  the  warm  blood  drawn 
from  the  living  cow,  sometimes  mixing  it  with  milk.^^ 
The  Bahima  eat  the  flesh  of  cattle,  sheep  and  goats, 
and  also  drink  blood  and  milk.22  The  scant  supply 
of  salt  probably  led  to  the  fondness  for  blood.^^  The 
drinking  of  blood  from  the  living  animal  has  been 
common  among  pastoral  people  over  a  great  part  of 
the  world.  The  Scythians,  for  instance,  used  to 
drink  the  blood  of  the  horse.  The  Bahima  drink 
milk  only  in  the  fresh  state,  and  sometimes  cleanse 
the  pots  with  cow  urine.  All  wealthy  people  have 
meat  for  the  evening  meal.  The  Masai  eat  any  bul- 
lock that  has  died  a  natural  death.^*    The  Abyssin- 

19  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  431;  Hahn,  p.  115. 

20  Paulitschki,  p.  323. 

21  Bruce,  p.  231. 

22  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  818;  Ibid.,  "Uganda 
Protectorate,"  p.  620. 

23  Thomson,  p.  430. 
24Holli8,  p.  318. 


THE  NOETHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  43 


ians  do  not  use  butter  except  in  districts  verging  on 
Nubia  where  tliey  have  learned  its  use  from  the 
Arabs.^^  They  use  the  root  of  the  herb  ^^mocmoco'* 
to  prevent  it  from  melting.^^  The  Masai  tribes  pre- 
fer their  milk  flavored  with  urine.^"^ 

Wild  game  is  a  food  resource  in  many  localities, 
but  it  is  often  supplied  by  a  subject  population  in- 
habiting the  forest.  The  Masai  soldiers  disdain 
hunting  as  unworthy  of  their  dignity.  In  some  dis- 
tricts dried  fish  is  much  eaten;  also  jerked  meat 
which  is  cured  by  hanging  it  in  the  huts  of  the  people, 
exposed  to  the  smoke  and  fire.^^  The  animal  food  is 
supplemented  to  a  varying  extent  by  fruits,  grain 
and  vegetables.  Agriculture  is  carried  on  mostly 
by  slaves  or  a  subject  class.^^  The  products  in 
Abyssynia  are  the  sweet  potato,  yam,  pumpkin,  cof- 
fee, maize,  wheat,  sugar-cane  and  cotton.^^  Somali 
produces  corn,  beans  and  pumpkins.^ ^  Cotton  is 
grown  in  Abyssinia  and  Somali,  and  in  the  latter 
country  great  quantities  of  myrrh,  frankincense  and 
balsam,  wliich  require  no  cultivation.^  ^  The  Gallas 
cultivate  their  fields  with  a  hoe,  and  a  wooden  plow 
drawn  by  oxen.^^  They  store  their  grain  in  circular 
granaries  supported  on  stilts.^- 

Handicrafts  are  little  developed.  Beyond  a  cer- 
tain skill  in  making  weapons  the  industrial  life  is 

25  Ratzel,  II,  p.  488 ;  Thomson,  p.  430.       3i  Stanford,  I,  p.  476. 

26  Bruce,  p.  314.  Ihid  ,  p.  476. 

27  Thomson,  p.  480.  33  Koettlitz,  p.  51. 

28  French-Sheldon,  p.  370.  S4  ihid.,  p.  53. 

29  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  620 ;  Ratzel,  II,  p.  494. 

30  Wyide,  p.  277. 


44 


THE  NEGRO  EACES 


exceedingly  simple.  There  is  some  clothing  made 
from  cotton  and  skins,  and  some  wood-carving,  and 
weaving  of  water  flasks.  The  shields  and  spears 
are  often  bought  or  stolen  from  the  people  below  the 
plateau.  In  many  cases  the  weapons  and  tents  are 
made  by  subject  people  living  in  nearby  villages.^* 

The  ivory  and  slave  trade,  formerly  very  great,  is 
now  reduced  to  small  proportions.  There  is  some 
trade  in  cotton  and  cotton-cloth,  and  salt.  The  lat- 
ter article  is  handled  in  the  shape  of  bricks,  and  in 
Abyssinia  has  long  passed  as  money.  The  chief  ex- 
ports of  Abyssinia  at  present  are  live-stock,  hides, 
skins,  gum,  feathers  and  coffee.^^  The  Masai, 
neighbors  to  the  Wandorobbo  hunters  and  traders, 
steal  ivory  and  sell  it  to  the  latter,  or  exchange  cattle 
for  game  and  other  merchandise.^'  In  Somali  trade 
is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Arabs.  Abyssinia  is 
the  only  state  on  the  plateau  that  has  a  system  of 
coined  money  and  a  national  bank. 

Among  the  northern  Gallas,  transportation  is 
chiefly  by  means  of  the  horse,^^  among  the  Abyssin- 
ians,  the  horse  and  ass,  and  one  railroad  180  miles 
long  connecting  Dawa  with  the  coast,^^  and  among 
the  Masai,  the  donkey  and  woman.*^    An  extensive 

35  Bruce,  p.  342 ;  Thomson,  p.  425 ;  Preville,  p.  75 ;  Koettlitz,  p. 
52;  Ratzel.  II,  p.  487. 

36  Goodrich,  p.  152. 

37  Bruce,  pp.  314,  342;  Preville,  p.  74;  Thomson,  pp.  166,  308; 
Koettlitz,  p.  54;  Ratzel,  II,  p.  529. 

38  Ratzel  II,  p.  488. 

39  Goodrich,  p.  152. 
*o  Thomson,  p.  422. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  45 


caravan  trade  is  carried  on  between  the  Galla,  Abys- 
sinian and  Somali  countries  and  the  coast.  The 
ports  connect  by  steamers  with  Aden,  the  great  dis- 
tributing point  for  all  East  Af rica.^^  A  considerable 
trade  from  Abyssinia  follows  the  tributaries  of  the 
White  Nile.  Caravans  going  eastward  comprise 
great  herds  of  cattle  and  thousands  of  people.^^ 
An  elephant  tooth  costs  in  the  interior  $45,  paid  for 
in  powder,  and  sells  at  the  coast  for  $120.  The  trip 
from  the  interior  to  the  coast  and  back  often  requires 
five  or  six  months.^^  The  telephone  and  telegraph 
have  scarcely  penetrated  the  plateau  except  in 
Abyssinia. 

The  population  of  the  Masai  is  divided  into  three 
groups :  First,  the  sedentary  group  of  married  men 
who  occupy  the  central  portions  of  the  plateau. 
Second,  the  young  boys  and  girls,  assisted  by  slaves, 
who  follow  the  cattle  over  the  hills  in  the  humid 
season  and  down  into  the  valleys  in  the  dry  season. 
Third,  the  military  group  made  up  of  the  strong 
young  men,  and  girls  who  assist  in  preparing  food.^* 
The  women  in  many  tribes  milk  the  cows  and  prepare 
the  food,  bring  water  and  shave  their  husbands,  but 
their  labor  is  light,  and  after  marriage  they  gener- 
ally become  very  corpulent.^  ^  The  married  men  of 
the  sedentary  group  have  scarcely  anything  to  do  ex- 
cept to  take  snuff  and  drink.  Parents  are  largely 
free  from  the  care  of  children  who  are  either  in  the 

41  Goodrich,  p.  152.  Merker,  p.  82. 

42  Schweinitz,  pp.  200,  201.  45  HoUis,  p.  318. 
48  76td.,  p.  196. 


46 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


military  group  or  following  the  cattle.  Among  the 
Bahima  the  men  alone  enter  the  cattle  kraal,  milk 
and  feed  the  herds.  In  Abyssinia  the  tending  of 
cattle  is  also  the  work  of  the  men.  The  grinding  of 
grain  and  baking  of  bread  is  the  work  of  women. 
Smith-work  is  done  by  a  subject  class  of  men,  while 
pottery  and  builders*  work  fall  to  the  Jews.^^  The 
Bahima  men  build  the  houses,  and  provide  clothing 
for  both  sexes.  The  women  generally  cultivate  the 
field,  where  there  is  any  agriculture,  and  carry  loads 
to  market."*^^ 

Slavery  exists  throughout  the  plateau,  but  the 
pastoral  life,  especially  where  it  is  nomadic,  requires 
few  slaves,^ ^  and  these  are  used  mostly  for  domestic 
work  and  for  carriers.^^  The  subject  populations 
are  held  as  serfs  rather  than  slaves.  They  pay 
tribute  instead  of  personal  service.^^ 

The  wealth  of  all  of  these  people  of  the  plateau 
consists  mostly  of  movable  capital,  i.  e.,  cattle. 
Land  is  generally  common  property  except  in  Abys- 
sinia. The  habit  of  conservation  of  resources  is  a 
marked  characteristic  of  pastoral  people. 

^eRatzel,  II,  p.  415;  III,  pp.  228,  229,  231;  Wylde,  p.  278;  Hollis, 
p.  330. 

46a  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  396 ;  Sheldon,  p.  359. 
4r  Dowd,  "The  Negro  Races,"  I,  pp.  122,  128. 
48  Ratzel,  II,  p.  488. 

48  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  387. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  GALLAS,  SOMALIS,  ETC.  OF  THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE 

ZONE  (continued) 

Family  Life. — Wives  are  purchased  from  parents 
and  paid  for  in  bullocks,  money  or  other  goods.^ 
Wife-capture,  once  common,  is  still  practiced  in 
some  districts.^  The  Bahima  women  are  not  con- 
sulted in  regard  to  marriage,  and  the  suitor  does 
not  often  see  the  bride  before  the  union.^  He  gives 
a  few  head  of  cattle  to  the  girl's  father,  and  several 
head  to  the  girl.^  The  bride's  father  gives  to  his 
daughter  a  dowry  of  six  good  cows.  The  Masai 
suitor  makes  love  while  the  girl  is  quite  young.  He 
offers  presents  of  honey  and  tobacco  to  her  father 
and  later  gives  her  a  dowry  in  cattle.^  When  a 
Galla  marries,  his  wife  receives  a  dowry  from  her 
father,  and  in  case  of  divorce  the  dowry  is  taken  by 
the  husband.  But  this  is  contrary  to  the  usual 
practice  among  the  Negroes.^    In  Abyssinia  girls 

1  Thomson,  p.  441;  Burton,  II,  p.  182;  Johnston,  "British  Central 
Africa,"  p.  632;  Wylde,  p.  182. 

2  Paulitschki,  p.  198;  Kallenberg,  p.  127. 
8  Cunningham,  p.  6. 

*Ibid.,  p.  7. 

BHollis,  p.  302;  Merker,  p.  45. 
e  Ratzel,  II,  p.  493. 

47 


48 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


marry  between  eleven  and  fifteen  years,  and  close 
the  child-bearing  period  at  thirty."^  The  subject 
tribes  on  the  plains  and  in  the  forests  are  of  a  darker 
and  more  negroid  type.  They  are  despised  by  their 
conquerors,  and  racial  antipathy  excludes  social 
intermingling  and  intermarriage.  Smiths  are  an 
ostracized  class,  and  no  freeman  will  enter  their 
house  or  even  shake  hands  with  them.® 

Polygamy  is  common  except  among  the  Abys- 
sinians  and  Gallas.  The  conditions  favoring  it  are 
the  ample  resources  in  food,  and  the  wars  which  de- 
plete the  male  population  and  render  the  women 
relatively  superfluous  and  cheap.^  In  Bahimaland, 
where  the  pastoral  resources  are  very  limited,  a  form 
of  polyandry  exists  where  two  men  sometimes  com- 
bine to  buy  a  wife. 

Ideas  alDout  chastity  vary  greatly  in  the  different 
parts  of  this  zone.  Should  a  (Bahima)  girl  go 
wrong  before  marriage  she  is  degraded  and  cast  out 
of  her  clan.''  She  lives  in  close  retirement  and  is 
always  veiled.^*'  While  the  Masai  consider  it  wrong 
for  a  girl  to  conceive  before  marriage,^ ^  in  regard  to 
a  large  part  of  the  population,  public  sentiment  tol- 
erates very  loose  sexual  relations.  The  population 
is  divided  into  three  groups,  one  military,  one  pas- 
toral, and  one  sedentary,  composed  of  married  peo- 
ple. The  first  comprises  the  unmarried  men  and 
unmarried  girls,  both  living  apart  from  their  par- 

7  Bruce,  p.  314;  Wylde,  p.  253.     lo  Cunningham,  p.  6, 
sRatzel,  II,  p.  494.  ii  Hollis,  p.  311. 

»  Thomson,  p.  419. 


THE  NOETHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  49 


ents  and  the  girls  offering  themselves  freely  to  the 
men.^-  Each  young  warrior  selects  one  or  more 
girls,  from  eight  to  thirteen  years  old,  to  serve  as 
his  mistress  until  he  is  ready  to  marry.  He  gives 
presents  to  their  mothers  in  payment.^^  Thomson 
remarks  of  a  warrior  group  he  visited,  that  **the 
sweetheart  system  was  largely  in  vogue,  though  no 
one  confined  his  or  her  attentions  to  one  only.  Each 
girl,  in  fact,  had  several  sweethearts,  and,  what  is 
still  stranger,  this  seemed  to  give  rise  to  no  jealous- 
ies.'* It  was  common  for  '^a  young  girl  to  wander 
about  the  camp  with  her  arm  around  the  waist  of  a 
stalwart  warrior.'' When  a  warrior's  father 
dies,  his  son  quits  the  camp,  returns  home,  buys  a 
wife,  and  raises  ^^a  brood  of  cattle-lifters."  Mar- 
ried women  do  not  hesitate  to  intrigue  with  strang- 
ers when  the  opportunity  offers. It  is  a  common 
practice  for  a  husband  to  tender  his  wife  to  a 
stranger.^'  Free  love  exists  among  the  Suk,  who 
are  neighbors  of  the  Bahima.^^  In  the  Galla  coun- 
try, says  Wylde,  all  the  family  huddle  under  one 
cover,  and  the  morals  are  vile.^^  In  Abyssinia  mar- 
riages often  take  place  after  a  couple  have  lived  to- 
gether   for    some    time,    and      generally  prove 

i2Pr6vil]e.  p.  71;  Kallenberg,  p.  94. 

13  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  pp.  824,  825. 

14  Page  431. 
i^lhid.,  p.  442. 

16  Ibid.,  p.  446. 

17  Hollis,  p.  288. 
isDundas,  p.  60. 
"Page  238. 


50  THE  NEGRO  EACES 


happy. ''20  Pastoral  life  is  essentially  one  of  leis- 
ure. Time  hangs  heavily  upon  the  people,  and  this 
is  not  conducive  to  sexual  morality.  Seclusion  of 
young  girls  from  the  company  of  men  is  found  only 
in  communities  influenced  by  Mohammedanism  and 
Christianity,^^ 

The  habitations  of  the  people  of  this  zone  vary 
from  tents  and  frail  structures  of  bough  and 
thatch  to  substantial  houses  of  stone.  The  huts 
of  the  Abyssinians  are  mostly  built  of  stone,  and 
the  majority  of  them  are  round  in  form,  having 

originated  from  the  circular  stick  and  straw  hut 
of  the  more  savage  Africa,  copied  in  stone  on  an 
enlarged  scale. ' '  Then  there  is  a  rectangular 
hut,  mostly  in  the  north,  which  includes  a  court  for 
cattle,  surrounded  in  the  interior  by  a  colonnade, 
within  which  are  chambers  for  human  occupancy. 
Great  lords  often  sleep  in  the  same  chamber  with 
horses  and  mules.^^  The  windows  of  the  house 
are  small  and  without  glass.  The  furniture  con- 
sists of  chests  for  storing,  cushioned  seats,  often 
covered  with  bright  silk;  wooden  stools,  a  table 
on  which  meals  are  served,  and  cow-horns  fixed 
in  the  walls  as  pegs  to  hang  swords,  spears,  shields 
and  gun.  Persian  rugs  sometimes  cover  the  floor. 
The  courtyard  is  usually  dirty,  the  atmosphere  of 
the  house  offensive,  and  the  whole  interior  infested 
with  insects  and  vermin.^^    The  Bahima  hut  is  made 


2oDundas,  p.  161. 
ziRatzel,  II,  p.  493. 
22Wylde,  p.  226. 


zsWylde,  p.  226. 

24  Ratzel,  III,  p.  225. 

26  Wylde,  pp.  229,  230,  239. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  51 


of  sticks  and  wattle,  round  in  form,  and  protected  by 
an  outer  fence,  the  inner  side  of  which  is  strength- 
ened by  a  bank  of  cow-dung  five  feet  high.^^  The 
homes  of  the  sedentary  groups  of  Masai  are  conical 
huts  of  reeds  and  thatch,  while  the  homes  of 
the  nomad  groups  consist  of  structures  of  boughs 
bent  over  and  interwoven,  forming  flat-roofed  build- 
ings with  rounded  corners.  They  are  often  joined 
together,  forming  a  continuous,  long,  narrow  house. 
To  keep  out  the  wind  a  composition  of  cow-dung 
is  liberally  plastered  over  the  boughs.  In  the  rainy 
season  hides  are  spread  over  the  roof.  The  huts 
of  a  community  are  arranged  in  a  circle  enclos- 
ing an  area  where  cattle  are  kept  at  night.  Out- 
side the  circle  of  huts  is  a  fence  of  thorns.^"^  The 
Galla  huts,  nearly  all  circular,  are  sometimes  made 
of  boughs,  and  sometimes  of  stone.^^ 

Married  men  lead  a  leisurely  life,  the  task  of 
protecting  the  home  and  village  devolving  upon  the 
warrior  group.^^  The  unmarried  men  tend  the 
herds.  All  of  the  other  work  falls  pretty  much  to 
the  slave  women.  They  build  the  hut,  milk  the  cows, 
go  on  journeys  to  buy  grain;  they  trade,  bring  wood 
and  water,  and  do  almost  all  the  work  of  supplying 
food  and  raiment.^^  The  field  work  is  left  to  the 
women  of  the  serf  class.^^ 

28  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  626;  Ratzel,  III,  p.  6. 
27  Thomson,  p.  419;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  459. 
28Wylde,  p.  238. 

29  Wylde,  p.  13. 

30  Thomson,  pp.  422,  446;  Wylde,  p.  253. 
81  Cunningham,  p.  6. 


52 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


A  common  interest  binds  the  husband  and  wife 
together,  and,  if  they  show  no  marked  affection  for 
each  other,  they  do  not  often  separate.  Women 
occupy  a  high  position  and  do  not  abase  themselves 
by  crouching  in  the  presence  of  their  husbands  as 
is  the  practice  among  women  in  other  parts  of  Af- 
rica.^^  Husband  and  wife  associate  in  a  spirit,  of 
freedom;  they  sit  and  eat  together and  no  ta- 
boo separates  them  when  the  wife  is  pregnant.^* 
Among  the  Suk  the  husband  remains  apart  from  his 
wife  till  the  child  is  weaned.^^ 

The  children  in  most  tribes  are  separated  early 
from  parental  oversight,  and  this  necessarily  les- 
sens the  regard  of  children  for  parents.  Upon  the 
death  of  a  father,  among  the  Masai,  the  son  returns 
from  the  camp,  picks  up  the  corpse  and  throws  it 
outside  the  kraal.  The  next  morning  he  kicks  aside 
the  bones  left  by  the  hyena,  while  the  vultures  flap 
their  wings  grossly  overhead.^^  The  fact  that  the 
sons  cannot  own  cattle  of  their  own  capture  until 
the  death  of  the  father  is  not  calculated  to  induce 
deep  grief  over  a  father's  demise.  Poor  boys, 
among  the  Bahima,  leave  their  parents  at  the  age 
of  seven  or  eight  years  and  live  with  the  chief .^^ 
Among  the  Galla,  Somali  and  Abyssinian,  the  family 
is  better  united,  and  respect  for  old  age  is  sometimes 

32  Paulitschki,  p.  202. 

33  French-Sheldon,  p.  385. 

34  Joyce,  p.  106. 
35Dun(ias,  p.  60. 
36  Thomson,  p.  440. 

3T  Johnston,  ''Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  626. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  53 


marked/'^ ^  The  adoption  of  children  is  not  uncom- 
mon. 

Generally  in  this  zone  inheritance  is  patrilineal, 
i.  e.,  in  the  male  line.  In  Masailand,  during  the 
father's  life  he  claims  all  of  the  cattle  captured  by 
his  sons  in  the  war  group.  When  he  dies  all  of 
the  cattle  is  inherited  by  the  oldest  son.^^  The 
other  sons  may  now,  however,  claim  as  their  own  any 
cattle  that  they  may  capture.  Women  have  no  in- 
heritance. A  widow  goes  to  the  eldest  brother  of 
the  deceased  husband ;  so  also  among  the  Bahima, 
where  the  eldest  son  receives  the  largest  share  of 
the  inheritance.^^ 

Political  Life. — The  pasturage  limitations  do  not 
permit  the  existence  of  many  large  groups.  As  the 
groups  are  small  and  scattered  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  cooperate  for  defense.  But  the  combina- 
tion has  little  stability,  as  the  people  here,  as  every- 
where in  grass-lands,  are  exceedingly  mobile.*^ 
The  frequent  exhaustion  of  the  grass,  and  the  also 
frequent  epidemics  of  disease  among  the  cattle,  com- 
pel the  groups  to  seek  new  pastures  and  new  sup- 
plies of  cattle.  This  precipitates  a  general  scramble, 
resulting  in  the  displacement  of  the  weaker  tribes.^^ 
As  the  stronger  and  more  numerous  tribes  are  in  the 
north  the  concussion  forces  a  general  movement 
southward  into  the  narrow  extremity  of  the  plateau, 
and  there  the  vanquished  have  no  alternative  but 


38  Paulitschki,  p.  205. 
3d  Hollis,  p.  309. 
*oMerker,  p.  49. 


41  Joyce,  p.  103;  Dundas,  p.  60. 

42  Semple,  p.  82. 

43  Thomson,  p.  414. 


54 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


to  descend  and  force  themselves  upon  the  sedentary 
populations  of  the  plains.  The  plateau  being  a 
coveted  region,  gained  and  held  by  the  strongest 
tribes,  has  come  to  hold  the  elite  of  the  African  race. 
Besides  the  defensive  cooperation  there  is  a  union  of 
tribes  for  wholesale  stealing  from  neighbors.  The 
scattered  groups,  therefore,  confederate  under  an 
elective  chief  who  rules  over  a  large  area  somewhat 
after  the  manner  of  a  mediaeval  lord.^^  *^The  no- 
mad," says  Semple,  *4s  economically  a  herdsman, 
politically  a  conqueror,  and  chronically  a  fighter. 
.  .  .  The  nation  is  a  quiescent  army,  the  army  a  mo- 
bilized nation. ' '  The  Masai  are  divided  into  about 
twelve  clans  or  sub-tribes  with  numerous  small  di- 
visions.*^   They  live  by  robbery."*' 

The  political  expansion  of  the  groups  is  hindered 
by  the  ruggedness  of  the  country,  the  frequency 
of  rivers,  mountains  and  canyons  intervening  be- 
tween the  habitable  areas.  Hence  a  great  political 
empire  has  never  been  developed  on  this  plateau  as 
in  the  more  open  pasture  regions  of  Asia  and  West- 
ern Sudan.  While  the  military  life  tends  to  develop 
men  of  genius,  the  geographical  conditions  fail  to  af- 
ford them  a  theater  for  large  action.  Abyssinia,  be- 
ing a  large  and  more  agricultural  region  and  the 
theater  of  conflict  with  the  strongest  invaders,  is  an 
exception  to  the  rule  of  small,  scattered  confedera- 
tions.   Here  the  concussion  of  strife  has  welded  a 


44  Ratzel,  II,  p.  490. 

45  Page  495. 


46  Thomson,  p.  412. 

47  Kallenberg,  p.  89. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  55 


large  empire.^^  The  military  organizations  of  the 
plateau  are  effective  for  defense  and  pillage,  but  are 
very  capricious,  and  in  only  rare  cases  fitted  to  con- 
quer and  hold  foreign  territory.  The  Bahima  in 
their  narrow  strip  of  plateau  have  subjected  many 
of  the  surrounding  populations,  and  have  been  aptly 
called  the  Normans  of  Central  Africa.^^  The  troops 
and  leaders  generally  upon  the  plateau  are  young 
bachelors ;  and  it  is  a  sociological  law  that  the  lead- 
ership of  youth  is  despotic  and  inefficient.  Fortu- 
nately, where  despotism  exists  it  is  local  in  its  ex- 
tent. Among  the  Masai  each  military  district  elects 
its  own  chief.  He  directs  the  fighting  from  the 
rear,  but  if  necessary  advances  with  the  body-guard. 
If  he  fails  to  give  satisfaction  he  is  summarily  dis- 
missed.^^ As  individuals  the  soldiers  are  good  fight- 
ers. Each  has  a  sword  attached  to  his  side,  and 
through  his  belt  is  pressed  a  knobkerry  or  skull 
smasher.  He  carries  a  shield  in  his  left  hand  and  a 
great  spear  in  his  right.  He  is  strategic,  skillful  and 
courageous.^^  The  Abyssinian  soldiers  are  more 
up-to-date  in  their  equipment.  They  are  armed 
with  every  description  of  old  rifle.^^  The  Galla  also 
have  more  up-to-date  armament,  and  add  much  to 
the  effectiveness  of  their  raids  by  attacking  on  horse- 
back.^2    The  absence  of  the  bow  and  arrow  is  no- 

48  Ratzel,  III,  p.  235. 

49  Johnston,  "The  Uganda  Protectorate/'  p.  680. 

60  Thomson,  p.  432. 

61  Thomson,  pp.  435,  439. 

62  Wylde,  p.  202. 
63Wylde,  p.  274. 


56 


THE  NEGRO  EACES 


ticeable  among  all  tlie  pastoral  people  from  Nubia 
to  South  Africa. 

The  neighboring  states  offer  little  resistance  to 
invasion  so  far  as  fighting  ability  is  concerned,  but 
they  are  protected  by  forest  and  absence  of  grass 
which  mark  the  limit  of  the  pastoral  empire. 

The  Galla,  Masai,  and  in  some  measure  the  So- 
mali, approximate  in  their  organization  somewhat 
to  the  republican  form  of  government.^^  The  states 
could  not  be  greatly  centralized  on  account  of  the 
natural  geographical  barriers  separating  them.  A 
Bahima  king  owns,  at  least  theoretically,  all  of  the 
cattle,  and  exercises  absolute  authority,  except  that 
the  district  chiefs  act  with  a  large  measure  of  in- 
dependence.^^ The  Abyssinian  government  is  rather 
centralized  and  absolute,  but  the  emperor  is  elected 
within  the  limits  of  a  certain  hereditary  ruling  fam- 
ily .^^  The  government  is  a  feudality  with  endless 
ties,  rights  and  duties  establishing  reciprocal  re- 
sponsibility. The  pastoral  life  does  not  admit 
among  freemen  great  inequalities  in  the  possession 
of  cattle,^ ^  and  this  puts  a  check  to  a  too  unequal 
distribution  of  political  power,  and  keeps  alive  a 
spirit  of  independence.  The  incessant  wars,  how- 
ever, would  suppress  the  independent  spirit  and  tend 
towards  a  central  despotic  regime  but  for  the  dif- 
ficulty of  massing  great  military  forces  at  strategic 
points,  and  of  controlling  military  groups  scattered 
over  a  wide  territory. 


54  Ratzel,  II,  p.  489. 
65  Joyce,  p.  98. 


Be  Bruce,  pp.  231,  237. 
57  Ratzel,  III,  p.  238. 


TPIE  NOETHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  57 


The  caste  system  exists  to  only  a  limited  extent 
because  the  pastoral  life  is  unfavorable  to  the  in- 
corporation of  a  large  subject  class.  There  would 
be  no  work  for  them.  The  few  slaves  that  exist  in 
the  population,  however,  are  socially  separated 
from  the  free  class.^*^  Instead  of  the  formation  of 
castes,  a  sort  of  feudalism  exists  in  that  the  pastoral 
people  subject  the  hunters  and  agricultural  tribes 
of  the  border,  and  force  them  to  pay  tribute. 

Legislation  among  the  Masai  is  in  the  hands  of 
a  council  of  tribesmen.  It  elects  a  leader  who  is 
rather  a  guide  to  the  debaters  than  a  ruler.^^  He 
must  be  a  man  of  courage,  eloquence,  and  skilled  in 
magic.^*^  In  Abyssinia  lawmaking  is  mostly  an  af- 
fair of  the  emperor.  Under  the  wise  administration 
of  Menelek  II  a  cabinet  has  been  formed  along  Euro- 
pean lines  and  a  council  composed  of  the  princes  of 
the  provinces.  None  of  the  other  plateau  states  has 
an  extensive  executive  system.  Usually  the  chief 
directs  the  military  operations  in  time  of  war,  and 
conducts  all  foreign  trade  in  time  of  peace.^^  The 
governments  have  little  to  do  with  the  maintenance 
of  internal  order.  An  injured  person  in  most  cases 
redresses  his  wrongs  by  revenge.  Abyssinia  is  an 
exception  to  this  rule.  Here  each  aggrieved  person 
appeals  directly  to  the  local  chief  or  to  the  emperor. 
Instead  of  employing  a  lawyer,  the  petitioner  hires 
a  lamentator  who  cries  and  moans  at  the  door  of  the 


58  Paulitschki,  p.  240.  eo  Ratzel,  II,  p.  489. 

6»Pr6ville,  p.  70;  Thomson,  p.  432.        6 1  Ratzel,  II,  p.  490. 


58  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


palace.^ 2  Crimes  are  punished  by  flaying  alive, 
crucifixion,  stoning  to  death,  plucking  out  the  eyes, 
etc.^^  The  Bahima  punish  murder  by  death  and 
impose  fines  for  theft.^^  In  case  of  murder  among 
the  Masai  blood-money  is  demanded,  and  obtained 
by  a  raid  upon  the  cattle  of  the  offender's  family. 
The  elders  of  the  group,  however,  sometimes  inter- 
vene to  restore  peace.^^    Theft  is  settled  by  fines. 

The  revenue  of  the  governments  is  mostly  in  the 
form  of  tribute,  and  is  paid  in  kind,  such  as  gold 
dust,  cattle,  slaves,  ivory,  grain,  game,  honey,  but- 
ter, etc.^^  In  Abyssinia  a  tithe  of  the  produce  is 
levied,  and  besides  this  there  are  revenues  from  im- 
ports and  royalties  on  concessions.^^ 

The  several  states  of  this  zone  have  a  greater  de- 
gree of  permanence  than  those  of  other  parts  of  Af- 
rica. The  generally  prevalent  patriarchal  regime, 
with  its  succession  in  the  male  line,  favors  the  de- 
velopment of  a  governing  tradition.  Then  the  uni- 
formity of  the  economic  life,  the  kinship  of  language, 
race,  and  religion  over  wide  areas,  make  for  co- 
hesion. The  independence  of  all  the  political  groups 
of  this  zone  is  now  largely  destroyed  by  European 
encroachments.  Abyssinia  is  the  only  country  in 
Africa  that  retains  its  native  control.^^ 

62  Bruce,  p.  235. 

63  Bruce,  p.  240. 

64  Cunningham,  p.  17. 
esHollis,  p.  311. 

66Koettlitz,  p.  51;  Bruce,  p.  315. 
6T  Ratzel,  III.  p.  237. 

68  Morocco  is  now  practically  French  territory,  and  the  Liberian 
Republic  has  nerer  been  governed  by  natives. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  GALLAS,  SOMALIS,  ETC.  OF  THE  NORTHEEN  CATTLE 

ZONE  (continued) 

Religious  Life. — The  religion  of  this  zone  repre- 
sents every  gradation  of  development  from  fetichism 
to  monotheism.  The  Abyssinians  are  largely  Juda- 
ized  or  Christianized,  and  this  has  largely  suppressed 
the  native  tendency  to  fetichism,  witchcraft,  and  sac- 
rificial rites.  They  practice,  however,  circnmcision, 
and  keep  np  the  Judaic  distinction  between  the  clean 
and  the  unclean.^  In  the  north  and  east  part  of  the 
country  Christianity  blends  with,  or  gives  place  to, 
Mohammedanism,  which  has  made  its  way  through 
inroads  of  the  Arabs.  The  geographical  barriers 
have  prevented  the  monotheistic  religions  of  the 
north  from  penetrating  uniformly  towards  the  south. 
Hence  many  tribes  upon  the  plateau  remain  fetich, 
while  others  have  a  mixture  of  fetichism,  polytheism 
and  monotheism.  The  Masai  are  mostly  polytheistic. 
They  have  several  great  gods  who  are  supposed  to 
interfere  in  a  beneficent  or  malignant  way  in  all  the 
happenings  of  life.  The  supreme  being  is  Mbara- 
tien.  When  bands  of  cattle-lifters  start  on  a  raid 
they  pray  to  Mbaratien,  or  rather  howl  at  him,  for 

iRatzel,  III,  p.  234;  Bruce,  p.  249. 

59 


60  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


help ;  and  they  also  at  the  same  time  send  to  a  magic 
man  for  advice  as  to  the  best  time  to  start,  and  for 
medicine  to  make  them  successful.^  A  very  impor- 
tant deity  is  Neiterhob,  an  earth  spirit ;  Ngai  is  a  god 
who  is  a  sort  of  personification  of  everything 
strange.^  The  Bahima  have  a  supreme  deity  of  the 
sky,  a  god  of  war,  gods  of  rain,  thunder  and  the 
nether  world,  and  a  multitude  of  clan  deities.*  They 
also  worship  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors,^  and 
believe  in  certain  demons  of  disease.^  Priests  are 
common  among  the  polytheistic  groups.  In  Abys- 
sinia there  exists  an  hereditary  priesthood,  and  a 
superfluity  of  monks  who  practice  open  simony  and 
polygamy.'^  On  entering  a  church,  says  Bruce,  you 
take  off  your  shoes,  *^but  you  must  leave  a  servant 
there  with  them,  else  they  will  be  stolen,  if  good  for 
anything,  by  the  priests  and  monks  before  you  come 
out  of  the  church."  The  priests  are  very  super- 
stitious, and  claim  to  see  spirits.^ 

Human  sacrifices  are  rare  in  this  zone  but  offer- 
ings of  cattle  and  other  things  are  common.  The 
Agaw  sacrifice  cattle  and  eat  the  flesh  raw.^  In  con- 
nection with  the  ancestor  worship  of  the  Suk,  offer- 
ings are  made  of  meat,  honey,  tobacco,  etc.^^ 

2  Thomson,  p.  434. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  445. 

4  Joyce,  p.  110;  Dnndas,  pp.  60,  61. 

e  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  631. 

^Ibid.,  p.  632. 

TRatzel,  III,  p.  234. 

8  Pages  242,  312. 

»  Bruce,  p.  312. 

loDundas,  p.  59. 


THE  NOETHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  61 


Tlie  witch-doctor  is  found  everywhere  outside  of 
the  monotheistic  religions,  but  his  functions  are  not 
so  great  as  among  the  Negroes  of  Central  or  West 
Africa.  He  is  less  important  because  the  people 
rely  less  upon  supernatural  agencies.  The  fact  that 
nature  is  not  here  over-antagonistic  and  terrifying, 
and  that  the  people  have  to  cope  with  her  and  lead 
a  somewhat  strenuous  life,  has  a  tendency  to  de- 
velop reason  and  to  curb  the  imagination.^^  Hence 
the  fear  element  does  not  enter  so  grossly  into  the 
native  superstitions.  The  medicine  man  makes  rain, 
divines  the  future,  and  cures  disease,  but  is  not  called 
upon  to  discover  witches  and  human  agencies  of 
death,  with  the  resulting  poison  ordeals,  as  is  com- 
mon in  other  parts  of  Africa.  Sickness  and  death 
are  not  so  generally  ascribed  to  mischievous  agen- 
cies.^2  The  medicine  man  employs  some  magic,  but 
also  makes  use  of  natural  remedies.  The  belief  in 
prayer,  common  in  many  districts,  has  a  tendency 
to  diminish  the  importance  of  the  medicine  man. 
Demons  and  roving  spirits  are  not  altogether  ter- 
rible. The  Bahima  have  a  monthly  Sunday  or  day 
of  rest  and  festival,  with  a  view  of  appeasing  de- 
mons, but  these  are  not  held  in  great  dread.  The 
most  they  will  do  is  to  take  a  man  by  the  arm  and 
shake  him  roughly.^^  If  a  patient  is  delirious  the 
medicine  man  will  make  smoke  to  drive  out  the 
ghost.^*  Among  the  Masai  the  power  of  the  witch 
doctor  does  not  lie  in  himself  but  in  his  power  of 

11  Buckle,  I,  ch.  2.  i3  Cunningham,  p.  12. 

12  Joyce,  p.  103;  Cunningham,  p.  12.         i*  Joyce,  p.  103. 


62  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


intercession  with  Ngai.^^  When  Thomson  was  ex- 
ploring Masailand  a  native  married  couple  came  to 
him  and  asked  for  some  medicine  to  procure  for  them 
a  white  boy.^^  The  Masai  believe  very  little  in 
ghosts,^"^  and  this  fact  limits  the  activities  of  the 
witch-doctor.  When  they  call  in  the  doctor  he  di- 
vines by  examining  the  entrails  of  a  goat,  by  get- 
ting drunk,  or  by  his  dreams.  The  sounds  of  birds 
are  good  and  bad  omens.^^ 

There  seems  to  be  observable  in  this  zone  a  tran- 
sition in  religion  from  a  stage  in  which  fear  is  the 
conspicuous  motive  to  that  in  which  the  elements 
of  adoration  and  gratitude  enter.  The  gods  seem 
to  be  in  a  measure  benevolent  and  to  inspire  con- 
fidence. Hence  the  use  of  prayer  in  many  cases. 
This  transition  is  dependent,  partly  upon  the  friendly 
aspect  of  nature,  and  partly  upon  the  success 
of  the  groups  in  their  struggle  with  foreigners  which 
inspires  confidence  in  their  gods.  **Thus  the  early 
Romans,''  says  McDougall,  *^as  they  emerged  tri- 
umphant from  successive  wars  with  their  neighbor- 
ing cities  and  grew  in  power  and  wealth,  naturally 
and  inevitably  acquired  some  confidence  in  the  benef- 
icence of  their  gods;  they  began  to  fear  them  less 
and  to  feel  some  gratitude  towards  them. ' ' 

The  non-monotheistic  groups  have  a  variety  of 

IB  Thomson,  p.  445. 
16  Ibid.,  p.  288. 
n  Ibid.,  p.  444. 

18  Hollis,  pp.  324,  325. 

19  Thomson,  p.  434;  Dundas,  p.  61;  Hollis,  p.  349. 

20  Page  311. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  63 


notions  of  the  future  life.  No  conception  of  another 
life  seemed  to  be  discoverable  among  the  Masai 
visited  by  Thomson.^^  According  to  the  observa- 
tions of  Hollis,  the  soul  does  not  come  to  life  again 
unless  it  be  the  soul  of  a  rich  citizen  or  medicine 
man,  and  in  either  case  it  turns  to  smoke.^^  There 
is  scarcely  any  conception  of  future  punishment,  ex- 
cept among  the  Christians  and  Mohammedans. 
After  death  all  of  the  Bahima,  good  and  bad,  go  to 
a  place  of  rest.^^  This  equality  after  death  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  general  lack  of  governmental 
machinery  and  laws  requiring  public  punishment, 
and  holding  the  individual,  and  not  the  community, 
responsible  for  crime.  The  notion  of  punishment 
after  death,  according  to  McDougall,  develops  only 
after  private  revenge  has  given  way  to  social 
punishment  of  wrong-doers.  Hence  we  find  that 
while  societies  are  small  and  compact,  communal 
responsibility  for  wrong-doing  is  the  rule,  and  the 
idea  of  punishment  after  death  is  hardly  enter^ 
tained;  but  that,  with  the  growth  in  size  and  com- 
plexity of  a  society  and  with  the  improvement  of 
its  moral  ideas,  belief  in  communal  responsibility 
declines,  and  belief  in  punishment  of  wrong-doing 
after  death  arises  to  take  its  place  as  the  effective 
sanction  of  custom  and  law. ' '  ^4 

Ceremonial  Life. — Ceremonies  do  not  develop  to  an 
elaborate  extent  among  pastoral  people,  who  gen- 
erally are  little  inspired  by  the  desire  to  impress  the 


21  Thomson,  p.  444. 
?2  Page  307, 


23  Cunningham,  p.  23. 

24  Page  312. 


64  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


crowd.  A  dense  population  is  one  of  the  prerequi- 
sites to  a  high  degree  of  ceremony.  Another  fact 
unfavorable  to  ceremonial  is  the  absence  of  great 
inequalities  in  the  possession  of  wealth,  since  one  of 
the  chief  motives  of  ceremony  is  to  maintain  social 
rank  and  subordination. 

Marriages  require  very  little  formality.  A  suitor 
in  Ankole,  for  example,  takes  to  the  father  of  the 
girl  a  pot  of  beer  and  a  cow  and  calf.  ^^If  the  suit 
is  entertained  the  father  drinks  the  amarwe  (beer), 
and  the  young  man  milks  the  cow  and  presents  a 
bowl  of  milk  to  the  girl.  When  she  has  drunk  the 
milk,  the  betrothal  is  complete."  Circumcision  is 
widely  practiced.^^  An  Abyssinian  boy  on  reaching 
the  age  of  puberty  goes  to  the  house  of  his  maternal 
uncle  who  shaves  the  boy's  forelocks  and  bestows 
upon  him  a  spear  and  heifer.  The  event  is  also 
celebrated  by  a  festival.^^  Among  the  Masai  a 
child-birth  is  celebrated  by  slaughtering  a  bullock, 
the  meat  being  divided  between  the  men  and 
women.^^  The  birth  of  twins  is  a  little  suspicious. 
It  is  not  exactly  unlucky  but  the  pair  are  tolerated 
only  after  a  ceremony  of  propitiation.^^ 

Some  of  the  ceremonies  of  civility  are  rather 
curious.  For  instance,  the  custom  among  the 
Masai  of  spitting  on  each  other.  Says  Thomson, 
it  expresses  the  greatest  good-will  and  the  best 
wishes.    It  takes  the  place  of  the  compliments  of 

25  Cunningham,  p.  7.  28  Hollis,  p.  293. 

26  Merker,  p.  60 ;  Dundas,  p.  60.    29  Lhindas,  p.  60. 

27  Ratzel,  III,  p.  240. 


THE  NORTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  65 


the  season,  and  you  had  better  spit  upon  a  damsel 
than  kiss  her.  You  spit  when  you  meet,  and  do  the 
same  on  leaving. ' '  Spitting  on  anything  also  ex- 
presses astonishment,  or  contempt,  or  good  luck.^^ 
In  addition  to  this  ceremony  it  is  customary  to  shake 
hands  and  ask.  How  do  you  do  1  The  northern 
Abyssinians  are  said  to  be  very  polite.  They  dis- 
mount from  animals  and  make  a  bow  whenever  one 
passes.  Generally  Abyssinians  will  not  eat  or 
drink  with  a  stranger,  and  a  vessel  used  by  a  stranger 
must  be  broken  or  purified.^* 

Burial  ceremonies  are  generally  simple.  **At  the 
funeral, among  the  Suk,  black  or  red  goat  is 
killed  and  eaten  at  the  grave,  and  the  bones  and  con- 
tents of  the  stomach  are  placed  upon  the  mound.'' 
A  man's  milk- gourd,  tobacco,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  good 
of  which  Marc  Antony  spoke,  are  oft  interred  with 
his  bones.^^  Among  the  Masai  the  body  of  a  dead 
child,  warrior  or  woman  is  thrown  away,  and  the 
name  of  the  deceased  never  again  mentioned.^^  In 
many  localities  it  is  considered  the  highest  honor  for 
the  body  of  a  cattle  owner  to  be  buried  in  a  dung- 
hill.37 

Esthetic  Life. — The  Masai  give  very  much  atten- 

30  Page  290. 

siHollis,  p.  315;  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  pp.  383,  833. 
32Merker,  p.  103. 
S3  Wylde,  p.  241. 

34  Bruce,  p.  230. 

35  Dundas,  p.  59. 
36Hollis,  p.  305. 

37  Cunningham,  p.  32. 


66 


THE  NEGEO  RACES 


tion  to  personal  decorations.  A  young  dandy  cul- 
tivates, not  a  mustache,  but  his  ear-lobes.  These  are 
bored  and  stretched  until  he  can  thrust  his  fist 
through  them.  A  piece  of  ivory  six  inches  long  is 
often  inserted.  His  teeth  are  beautified  by  knocking 
out  his  two  lower  middle  incisors.^ ^  He  is  tat- 
tooed by  five  or  six  marks  on  his  thigh.^^  His  hair 
is  done  up  into  a  mop  of  strings.  He  wears  a  neck- 
lace of  coiled  wire,  a  bead-mitten  on  his  wrists,  and 
a  strip  of  monkey  hair  round  his  ankles.  He  throws 
over  his  shoulder  a  decorated  garment  of  kid  skin.^^ 
The  Masai  women  also  pierce  their  ear-lobes  and 
w^ear  in  them  heavy  coils  of  pendants.^  ^  The  Bahima 
also  tattoo,  and  adorn  themselves  with  metallic  rings, 
bracelets,  etc.^-  The  youHg  belle  of  Masailand 
wears  telegraph  wire  coiled  from  ankle  to  knee,  and 
also  above  and  below  the  elbow.^^  An  iron  wire  with 
ornamental  curls  is  worn  round  the  neck,  also  beads 
and  iron  chains.  Ear  pendants  are  worn  in  pro- 
fusion. The  weight  of  these  articles  of  jewelry 
varies  according  to  the  rank  and  wealth  of  the  girl, 
and  amounts  often  to  fifty  pounds.^ ^  The  Gallas, 
and  Somalis  wear  similar  decorations,  but  the  metal 
used  is  often  silver. 

The  Masai  have  no  musical  instruments,  and  no 

38Ratzel,  II,  p.  504;  Tliomson,  pp.  421,  428. 
38  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  804. 
■*oMerker,  p.  131. 
4iKallenberg,  p.  126. 

42  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  804. 

43  Thomson,  p.  429. 

44  76i(i.,  p.  429. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  67 


songs,  except  those  sung  in  celebration  of  a  success- 
ful raid,  or  as  invocations  to  deity.  Their  pleasures 
seem  to  be  of  a  gross  and  somber  nature.  They  have 
no  rollicking  fun,  and  no  moonlight  dances  so  com- 
mon among  other  Negroes.^^  The  Abyssinians  have 
a  great  variety  of  string,  wind  and  percussion  in- 
struments, while  the  Bahima  seem  to  have  only  the 
flute,  lyre,  and  drum.**^ 

The  sesthetic  talent  of  the  people  is  shown  largely 
in  their  dress.  The  Abyssinians  wear  garments 
made  mostly  of  cotton,  but  the  Agaw  element  of  the 
population  dress  in  hides.'*'^  The  costume  of  the  men 
for  grand  occasions  is  a  long  undershirt  reaching  to 
the  knees,  made  of  home-grown  cotton,  a  pair  of 
trousers  tight-fitting,  embroidered  at  the  bottom,  the 
outer  seam  of  each  leg  having  a  strip  of  embroidery 
two  or  three  inches  broad.  Around  the  waist  is  a 
silk  cord  with  silver  tassels.  Over  all  is  a  cotton 
smock  of  crimson,  dark-blue,  or  black  reaching  a  little 
below  the  knee,  richly  decorated  round  the  collar, 
shoulders,  waist  and  back."*^  The  women  wear  on 
their  head  a  black  silk  or  particolored  handkerchief 
and  gold  and  silver  hair-pins.  They  wear  a  silver 
bungler  and  silver  bracelets  on  their  wrists,  ankles 
and  legs,  a  blue  silk  cord  around  the  neck  to  which 
is  attached  a  crucifix  of  silver  and  a  few  charms; 
they  wear  also  silver  and  gold  necklaces,  silver 

45  Thomson,  p.  432. 

♦6  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,**  p.  630. 
47Ratzel,  III,  p.  231;  Bruce,  p.  31S^ 
*»Wylde,  p.  246. 


68 


THE  NEGEO  RACES 


rings  on  fingers  and  sometimes  on  their  toes.^^  The 
women  at  market  may  be  seen  in  native  cotton  sham- 
mas  with  a  red  stripe  down  the  center,  worn  like  a 
toga,  gracefully  draped,  leaving  one  shoulder  bare. 
The  men  of  the  peasantry  put  on  a  cap  of  sheep  or 
goat  skin.  The  original  dress  of  the  Galla  was  a 
leather  loin-cloth  with  often  a  shoulder  covering. 
The  Masai  women  formerly  wore  dressed  skins 
hanging  from  the  neck  to  the  knee.  The  Bahima 
men  of  rank  strut  proudly  in  leopard  skins  while  the 
common  men  go  almost  nude.^^  The  women  dress 
profusely  in  cow  hides  that  cover  the  head  and  shoul- 
ders and  extend  to  the  feet.^^  Cotton  garments  are 
now  fast  superseding  the  leather.  The  use  of  shoes 
or  stockings  is  yet  very  rare.  Sandals  are  some- 
times worn  for  traveling. 

Decorations  of  every  kind  among  the  people  of 
the  plateau  are  mostly  conventional  and  do  not  rep- 
resent nature.^2 

Dancing  is  less  in  vogue  than  elsewhere  in  Africa. 
Such  dances  as  the  people  have  often  verge  upon 
the  drama.  For  instance,  the  Suk  dances,  of  which 
there  are  a  great  variety,  are  usually  in  mimicry  of 
hunting  or  other  contests  between  man  and  animals. 
One  very  remarkable  dance  imitates  the  water  spirit 
seizing  a  drowning  man.^^ 

*9Wylde,  p.  246. 

50  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  396. 

51  Joyce,  p.  94;  Schweinitz,  p.  143. 
62  Ra^tzel,  III,  p.  231. 
63Dundas,  p.  Gl. 


CHAPTEE  VI 


THE  GALLAS,  SOMALIS,  ETC.  OF  THE  NOBTHERN  CATTLE 

ZONE  (continued) 

Psychological  Characteristics. — There  is  no  satis- 
factory information  in  regard  to  the  cranial  capacity 
of  the  people  of  this  zone,  bnt  the  presumption  is 
that  it  is  greater  than  that  of  the  average  Negro. 
The  cranial  forms  characteristic  of  some  of  the  tribes 
correspond  to  those  of  the  Caucasian  peoples  inhabit- 
ing the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.^  The  relation 
of  brain  weight  to  intelligence  has  not  yet  been  sci- 
entifically established,  but,  if  there  is  such  a  relation, 
the  brain  capacity  of  the  Negro  of  this  zone  ought 
to  be  relatively  high,  corresponding  to  his  superior 
intelligence.  There  seems  to  be  a  correspondence 
in  all  the  African  zones  between  the  size  and  form  of 
the  brain  and  its  activity Prof.  David  Hausemann 
in  his  article  ^^Ueber  das  Gehirn  von  Hermann  von 
Helmholtz,"  in  **Zeitschrift  fiir  Psychologic  und 
Physiologic  der  Sinnesorgane,"  Band  XX,  takes  the 
position  that  there  is  no  connection  between  brain 
weight  and  mental  capacity;  and  several  other 
eminent  scholars  are  of  the  same  opinion.  It 

1  Sergi,  Chs.  II  to  IX  inclusive. 

2  Dowd,  "The  Negro  Races,"  I,  Pt.  2,  Chs.  XXXIV,  XXXIX. 

69 


70  THE  NEGEO  RACES 


seems  to  me,  however,  quite  possible  that  some  great 
men  may  have  small  brains  and  some  mediocre  men 
large  brains  without  discrediting  the  theory  that  a 
race  of  men  having  large  brains  will  have  an  advan- 
tage over  a  race  having  small  ones.  A  boy  with 
short  legs  may  happen  to  be  the  fastest  runner  in 
a  student-body,  whereas  upon  the  whole  the  long- 
legged  boys  will  outrun  the  short.  The  superior 
brain  of  any  zone  must  be  accounted  for,  not 
by  assuming  that  increased  functions  enlarge  the 
brain  and  that  this  enlarged  brain  is  transmitted 
by  inheritance,  but  by  assuming  that  natural  selec- 
tion causes  those  types  to  survive  that  fit  the  more 
strenuous  environment.  According  to  Woodruff,  in 
a  tropical  country,  where  existence  is  easy,  a  large 
brain  could  not  evolve.^  **The  general  trend  of  in- 
crease of  brain  is  away  from  the  tropics.''^  **The 
colder  and  more  forbidding  and  unfriendly  the  coun- 
try the  larger  are  the  brains  of  the  natives. ' '  ^  The 
brain  of  man,  he  goes  on  to  say,  reached  its  maxi- 
mum of  development  before  the  dawn  of  civilization. 
It  was  determined  by  a  process  of  selection  under 
conditions  that  called  for  the  employment  of  all  the 
faculties.  It  ceased  to  grow  as  soon  as  the  division  of 
labor  arose  by  which  each  man  came  to  exercise  but 
one  faculty.^  The  maximum  of  growth  was  reached, 
just  after  the  glacial  epoch  in  Europe,  about 
40,000  years  ago.  Some  of  the  Europeans  after  this 
epoch  migrated  southward  too  soon,  and  **did  not 


3  Page  32. 

4  Page  9. 


0  Ibid.,  p.  9. 
« Ibid.,  p.  34. 


THE  NORTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  71 


stay  long  enougli  to  develop  the  necessary  brain.*' ^ 
For  illustration,  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  su- 
perior to  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians;  and  the 
modern  Europeans,  who  overran  the  classic  world, 
were  superior  to  the  latter,  because  they  remained 
longer  in  the  barbaric  state,  under  strenuous  con- 
ditions that  employed  all  of  their  faculties. 

Without  passing  judgment  upon  this  theory,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  in  Africa  the  process  of  natural 
selection  ought  to  adjust  the  brain  capacity  to  the 
conditions,  and  there  is  evidence  that  it  does  so,  and 
the  process  is  rapid.  For  example,  when  the  pyg- 
mies get  out  of  their  environment,  and  attempt  to 
live  on  the  plateau,  they  droop  and  die''  from  cold 
and  exposure,  not  having  the  aptitude  to  protect 
themselves.®  Stanley  and  other  explorers  have  often 
commented  upon  the  inability  of  the  Negroes  of  one 
zone  to  survive  in  another.  In  changing  from  an 
easy  to  a  hard  environment  the  dying  out  of  the 
unfit  would  lead  to  a  rapid  selection  of  a  superior 
type. 

The  superiority  of  the  Negroes  of  this  zone  is 
shown  in  the  first  place  by  their  less  violent  sense 
of  fear.  Instead  of  manifesting  the  self-abasement 
of  the  Central  African,  they  are  self-assertive, 
proud  and  domineering.^  This  characteristic  is  due 
to  their  successful  warfare,  and  to  the  milder  mani- 
festations of  nature  which  appeal  less  to  their  emo- 

7  Woodruff,  p.  22. 

8  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  385. 
» Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  630. 


72 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


tions  and  more  to  their  reason.  They  possess  what 
Williams  calls  the  forceful  mood.^^ 

They  show  a  high  degree  of  the  pugnacious  in- 
stinct, cultivated  under  conditions  that  provoke 
warfare.  *^The  situation  that  more  particularly 
excites  this  instinct,"  says  McDougall,  *4s  the 
presence  of  spectators  to  whom  one  feels  oneself  for 
any  reason,  or  in  any  way,  superior;  and  this  is 
perhaps  true  in  a  modified  sense  of  the  animals; 
the  dignified"  behavior  of  a  big  dog  in  the  pres- 
ence of  small  ones,  the  stately  strutting  of  a  hen 
among  her  chicks,  seem  to  be  instances  in  point." 
Among  civilized  people  this  instinct  finds  play  in 
the  economic,  political  and  other  spheres,  and  has  a 
tendency  to  merge  into  friendly  rivalry  and  emula- 
tion.^2  Vigorous  motor  reactions,"  says  Patten, 
*^can  always  be  put  to  some  good  use,  and  once  ac- 
quired, they  are  never  lost  by  a  progressive  race." 
Existence  among  the  Masai  of  this  zone  calls  for 
some  courage  and  mental  effort,  and  hence  their 
feelings  do  not  predominate  over  their  reason  to  the 
extent  common  to  the  average  Negro.  They  are  not 
strikingly  superstitious.^^  In  their  treatment  of  the 
sick  they  use  less  jugglery  and  more  knowledge  of 
medicine  and  surgery.  They  know  how  to  use  many 
roots  and  herbs,  and  how  to  set  or  amputate 

10  Page  744. 

11  Page  64. 

^2  Ibid.,  p.  89. 

IS  "The  Development  of  English  Thought,"  N.  Y.,  1899,  p.  18. 
14  Stanley,  *'In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  400. 


THE  NOETHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE 


73 


limbs.^^  Abyssinia  has  had  a  system  of  compul- 
sory education  since  1907.  Formerly  only  well-to- 
do  Abyssinians  could  read  and  write,  having  been 
taught  by  the  priests.^^  The  Galla  have  mathemat- 
ical terms  expressing  units  up  to  one  thousand,  the 
Tigre  up  to  ten  thousand,  and  the  Amharri  up  to  one 
million.^^ 

The  frequent  disputes  over  cattle  and  territory, 
and  the  problems  of  war,  furnish  themes  for  ani- 
mated discussion  in  the  council  house.  The  leaders 
in  this  assembly  are  ready-witted  and  remarkable  for 
order  and  decorum  in  debate.^^ 

The  people  of  this  plateau  have  a  degree  of  fore- 
sight much  above  that  of  pastoral  groups  generally, 
and  this  is  accounted  for  by  the  greater  difficulties 
of  existence.  Their  defensive  organization,  involv- 
ing the  division  of  the  population  into  three  groups, 
and  their  sparing  use  of  cattle  as  food,  indicate  an 
intelligent  interest  in  conservation. 

Their  temper  is  not  so  rollicking  and  explosive 
as  that  of  the  Central  African,  although  they  often 
have  in  them  a  ^  ^  spirit  of  fun  lurking,  ready  to  burst 
out  into  shouts  of  ringing  laughter. ' '  They  com- 
monly show  a  certain  reserve  and  dignity,  and  do  not 
give  way  to  excitement.^*^    This  is  because  their  life 

15  French-Sheldon,  p.  383;  Hollis.  pp.  343,  335;  Cunningham,  p.  10, 

16  Wylde,  p.  245. 

17  Crawford,  "Xumerals  as  Evidence  of  the  Progress  of  Civiliza- 
tion," Trans.  Ethnological  Society,  X.  S.,  II,  p.  89. 

18  Thomson,  p.  433. 

19  French-Sheldon,  p.  360. 

20  Thomson,  p.  304;  Cunningham,  p.  21. 


74 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


is  relatively  hard,  and  full  of  bitter  struggle.  They 
lead  a  serious  life."^^  Much  smiling  is  not 
adapted  to  faces  that  must  often  assume  a  fiendish 
aspect.^-  The  mountain  people  of  Asia,  living  un- 
der peaceful  conditions,  and  protected  by  natural 
barriers,  are  noted  for  their  good  humor,  which 
Huntington  attributes  partly  to  the  invigorating 
air.2^  But,  in  the  heights  of  Eastern  Africa,  the 
military  spirit  gives  the  tempter  a  harder  quality. 
The  character  here  is  more  forceful  and  austere, 
and  may  be  classed  as  the  dogmatic-emotional  type, 
according  to  the  terminology  of  Giddings.^^ 

Within  their  respective  groups  the  people  of  this 
zone  display  some  of  the  primary  virtues  of  civil- 
ized people,  i.  e.,  kindness,  truthfulness,  justice  to 
each  other,  and  a  common  aspiration  and  resent- 
ment. '\^'lien  a  Masai  meets  with  misfortune  the 
others  of  the  group  help  him  by  supplying  him  with 
cattle,  and  restoring  him  to  a  good  condition.-^  The 
Suk,  says  Dundas,  *^are  exceptionally  truthful  and 
honest.''  2^  Some  of  the  Masai  are  said  to  be  sin- 
gularly honest  and  reliable.  Johnston  says  that 
the  Bahima  are  usually  very  honest  and  faithful.^^ 
According  to  Stanley  they  are  not  easily  provoked 
to  anger.^^  Serious  falsehood  among  friends," 
says  Cooley,  *'is,  I  believe,  universally  abhorred  by 
savages   and   children   as   well   as   by  civilized 

21  Thomson,  p.  432.  26  page  61. 

22  Ibid.,  p.  440.  2T  Thomson,  p.  453. 

23  Page  60.  28  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  630. 

24  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  87.  2»  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  403. 

25  Marker,  p.  117. 


THE  NORTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  75 


adults. ''^^  According  to  his  view  there  are  three 
elementary  groups  in  which  are  developed  certain 
universal  feelings.  These  are  the  family,  the  play- 
group of  children,  and  the  neighborhood  group  of 
elders  and  within  these  are  fostered  love,  resent- 
ment, ambition,  vanity,  hero-worship,  and  the  sense 
of  social  right  and  wrong.^^  These  characteristics, 
varying  in  intensity,  are  found  in  all  groups,  savage 
or  civilized,  the  chief  difference  being  in  the  area  of 
their  expansion,  due  to  circumstances  of  environ- 
ment. The  virtue  of  honesty  is  enhanced  anywhere 
by  the  development  of  property.  Pastoral  people, 
possessing  much  property,  i.  e.,  cattle,  are  obliged 
to  respect  property  rights  and  to  value  truthful 
statement,  at  least  within  the  kinship  group. 

The  family  affections,  in  most  of  the  groups  of  the 
plateau,  are  weak,  on  account  of  the  early  separa- 
tion of  children  from  parents,  and  the  chilling  ef- 
fects of  the  military  life.  The  sexual  morality  of 
pastoral  people  is  everywhere  low,  because  of  the 
great  amount  of  idle  time  which  falls  to  both  sexes. 
Faithlessness  is  a  common  characteristic.^^ 

Towards  individuals  outside  their  particular 
group,  the  natives  of  this  zone,  as  those  of  civilized 
countries,  are  hostile,  treacherous,  and  more  or  less 
unsympathetic.  The  pastoral  people  are  cattle- 
lifters,''  and  ^  inclined  to  treachery  in  dealing  with 

30  "Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order/'  p.  182. 

51  Ibid.,  p.  24. 

52  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

33  Ratzel,  III,  p.  233. 


76  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


their  enemies/' The  Masai  steal  their  weapons 
and  implements,  or  force  their  subject  tribes  to  make 
them. 

The  pastoral  people,  however,  are  not  lacking  in 
humanitarian  sentiment.  They  are  neither  very 
cruel  to  their  enemies,  nor  to  beasts,  and  they  are 
capable  of  disinterested  kindness.  They  have  been 
known  to  protect  strayed  porters,  and  to  send  out 
a  caravan  to  seek  porters  who  had  lost  their  way.^* 

Vanity  is  not  conspicuously  developed  in  this 
zone.  It  is  an  art  of  deception,  and  in  small  groups, 
where  all  members  are  intimately  acquainted,  the 
incentive  to  deceive  is  not  very  strong.  Vanity  re- 
quires a  large  audience  to  excite  its  full  vigor. 

Except  for  their  lack  of  respect  for  the  home,  we 
might  apply  to  the  pastoral  people  of  AfriGa  what 
Huntington  says  of  the  Himalayans:  Their 
characteristic  traits  of  comparative  honesty,  cour- 
age in  spite  of  superstition,  industry,  intense  love 
of  home,  and  cheerfulness  under  difficulty,  are  those 
which,  all  over  the  world,  seem  to  make  moun- 
taineers of  whatever  race,  better  men  than  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  plains,  where  life  is  ea.sy." 

34  Dundas,  p.  61.         85  Thomson,  p.  443.      36  Page  65. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  ANDOKOBO  AND  OTHER  MIXED  TRIBES  OF  THE 
FOREST  ZONE 

The  conflict  for  pasture  grounds  among  the  Galla 
peoples  of  the  plateau  induces  or  forces  the  weaker 
tribes  to  descend  into  the  regions  where  the  forest 
becomes  so  dense  as  to  render  the  pastoral  life  im- 
possible. Here  the  vanquished  tribes  disband  and 
scatter.  Each  family  finds  an  isolated  home  in  the 
recesses  of  the  forest,  retaining  a  single  cow,  per- 
haps, as  a  reminiscence  of  their  former  pastoral  life. 
They  take  up  hunting  as  the  chief  means  of  ex- 
istence, but,  while  the  men  are  so  engaged,  the 
women  remain  at  home  and  cultivate  in  a  small  clear- 
ing a  few  vegetables,  such  as  maize,  sweet  potato, 
yam,  etc.  Each  home  is  protected,  not  by  armed 
sentinels,  as  on  the  plateau,  but  by  a  thicket-fence 
and  ditch.  This  forest  region  extends  around  the 
flanks  of  Mount  Kenia,  Mt.  Kilema  Njaro  and  ex- 
tends on  either  side  of  the  plateau  almost  to  the 
Zambezi  river.^ 

In  all  probability  the  Bantus  have  occupied  this 
territory  from  time  immemorial,  but  the  tribes  of 
Gallas  expelled  from  the  plateau  have  intermixed 

iprfiville,  p.  90. 

77 


78 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


with  the  natives  of  the  forest,  producing  varying  de- 
grees of  mixture  of  blood  and  dialect.^ 

In  this  forest,  hunting  must  be  done  in  groups,  as 
the  game,  such  as  the  antelope  and  monkey,  is  found 
in  large  herds,  or  such  as  the  elephant  or  buffalo, 
is  redoubtable.  Men,  and  boys  of  mature  age,  join 
the  bands  of  hunters,  and  follow  the  migrations  of 
the  animals,  often  being  absent  from  home  many 
days.  This  leads  to  a  curious  form  of  polygamy. 
Instead  of  having  several  wives  living  in  separate 
huts  in  one  place,  as  among  the  West  Africans,  each 
man  has  several  wives  located  in  different  cantons 
of  the  forest.^  The  feebleness  of  the  parental  tie  is 
here  pronounced,  especially  the  tie  between  the 
father  and  the  young  children  whom  he  seldom  sees 
and  does  nothing  to  support.* 

The  loss  of  foresight,  due  mainly  to  the  leader- 
ship of  youth,  tends  to  an  unbridled  exploitation  of 
the  game,  and  this  necessitates  among  the  forest 
people  a  constant  struggle  for  new  territory.  The 
superior  types  of  mixed  peoples  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  forest,  near  the  plateau,  following  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  press  against  the  less  spirited  and 
darker  people  of  the  West,  and  thus  fight  their  way 
by  degrees  all  the  way  across  the  forest  of  Africa, 
even  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic.^ 

sDeniker,  p.  464;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  pp.  388,  390. 

3  Pr6ville,  p.  92. 

4  Pr6ville,  p.  92. 
ePr^ville,  p.  93. 


CHAPTEE  Vni 


THE  NIAM-NIAM  OF  THE  ELEUSINB  ZONE 

General  Character  of  the  Zone. — This  zone  is 
situated  in  the  very  heart  of  Africa,  compris- 
ing a  region  west  of  the  Bahr  el  Jebel,  and 
extending  more  than  halfway  across  the  continent, 
and  from  the  Bongo  country  on  the  north  to  the 
Welle  river  on  the  south.  It  is  on  the  dividing  line 
of  a  network  of  rivers  that  flow  respectively  into  the 
White  Nile  and  the  Congo  Basins.  Its  elevation 
varies  from  2,000  to  4,000  feet.  Its  southern  border 
is  about  five  degrees  above  the  equator.  It  receives 
a  great  rainfall  and  is  a  land  of  luxuriant  vegeta- 
tion and  vast  forests.  Owing  to  its  elevation  the 
climate  is  less  oppressive  than  that  of  other  parts 
of  Central  Africa.  Here  the  banana  ceases  to  grow 
and  also  the  oil-palm.  It  is  a  country  infested  with 
the  tsetse  fly,  whose  bite  is  fatal  to  cattle  and  horses, 
but  not  to  the  big  game  of  the  forest.  By  thus  keep- 
ing out  the  domesticated  animals  it  preserves  the 
territory  for  the  great  and  small  beasts  that  find 
in  the  low  and  high  lands  their  favorite  ranges.  In 
the  lowlands  where  the  forest  is  thick  are  chiefly 
the  monkeys,  leopards  and  other  of  the  smaller 

79 


80 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


game,  while  on  the  plains  at  certain  seasons 
are  troops  of  elephants,  buffaloes  and  antelopes.^ 
The  Inhabitants. — The  inhabitants  of  this  zone  are 
a  branch  of  the  light-colored  Negroes  already  de- 
scribed as  occupying  the  cattle  regions  of  East 
Africa.  They  are  known  as  the  Zandeh  or  Niam- 
Niam  and  they  number  about  two  million.  While 
they  resemble  the  Galla  type,  they  show  strains  of 
the  darker  Nilotic  Negro  blood.^  Schweinfurth 
says  they  are  *  *  capable  of  being  identified  at  the  first 
glance  amidst  the  whole  series  of  African  races. '^^ 
They  have  *  *  round,  broad  heads, ' '  covered  with  thick 
frizzy  hair  of  extraordinary  length,  and  arranged 
in  long  plaits  and  tufts.  *  *  Their  eyes,  almond-shaped 
and  somewhat  sloping,  are  shaded  with  thick,  sharply 
defined  brows,  and  are  of  remarkable  size  and  full- 
ness, the  wide  space  between  them  testifies  to  the  un- 
usual width  of  the  skull,  and  constitutes  a  mingled 
expression  of  animal  ferocity,  warlike  resolution 
and  ingenuous  candor.  A  flat,  square  nose,  a  mouth 
about  the  same  width  as  the  nose,  with  very  thick 
lips,  a  round  chin,  and  full  plump  cheeks,  complete 
the  countenance  in  its  general  countour."^  The 
skin  has  a  *  *  dull  hue  of  a  cake  of  chocolate. ' '  Some 
of  the  women  show  various  shades  of  copper  color, 
but  the  general  tint  is  always  the  same — an  earthly 
red  in  contrast  to  the  bronze  tint  of  the  true  Ethio- 
pian races  of  Nubia.^ 

1  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  457.  *  II,  p.  5. 

2  Deniker,  p.  442.  «  II,  p.  6. 

3  1,  p.  4. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  81 


Economic  Life. — The  men  devote  most  of  their 
time  to  hunting.  The  elephants  are  chased  during 
the  season  when  they  are  upon  the  plateau.  The 
grass  is  then  burnt,  and  while  the  great  beasts  are 
blinded  by  the  smoke  and  fire  they  are  surrounded 
and  killed  with  spears.  In  the  dry  season  they  take 
to  the  forests.  Then  the  hunting  season  is  over  for 
the  reason  that  the  natives  cannot  keep  up  with  the 
elephants  in  the  forest,  nor  pursue  the  smaller  game 
which  is  frightened  away  by  the  snorting  and  wal- 
lowing of  the  elephants  in  the  pools  and  swamps,  the 
shaking  of  the  trees,  and  the  breaking-off  of  twigs. 
The  flesh  of  wild  animals  is  now  scarce  so  that  the 
people  have  to  fall  back  upon  the  domestic  dog,  and  a 
scant  supply  of  poultry,^  supplemented  by  rats, 
worms,  ants  and  caterpillars.*^  Fish  relieves  the  sit- 
uation somewhat,  being  dried,  rolled  into  balls  and 
given  a  **haut  gout"  by  the  heat  of  the  climate. 
As  a  final  resort  the  people  take  to  eating  each  other. 
This  is  a  land  of  cannibalism.^  The  name  Niam- 
Niam,  in  the  Dinka  dialect,  means  eaters,"  mani- 
festly having  reference  to  the  cannibal  propensities 
of  the  population.^  The  appetite  for  human  butcher- 
meat  is  at  the  bottom  of  most  of  the  Niam-Niam 
wars.  *  *  Meat !  Meat !  is  the  watchword  that  resounds 
in  all  their  campaigns."      **In  times  of  war,"  says 

6  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  16 ;  Long,  p.  274. 

7Pr6ville,  p.  233. 

8  Pr6ville,  p.  234. 

»  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  3. 

10  Ibid.,  p.  17. 


82  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Schweinfurth,  people  of  all  ages,  it  is  reported, 
are  eaten  up,  more  especially  the  aged,  as  forming 
by  their  helplessness  an  easier  prey  to  the  rapacity 
of  a  conqueror,  or  at  any  time  should  any  lone  and 
solitary  individual  die,  uncared  for  and  unheeded  by 
relatives,  he  would  be  sure  to  be  devoured  in  the  very 
district  in  which  he  lived.'*  The  only  salt  avail- 
able is  extracted  from  a  certain  kind  of  wood.^^ 
Some  writers  believe  that  cannibalism  is  induced  by 
the  craving  for  salt. 

But  the  meat  diet  is  not  altogether  satisfying, 
and,  to  obtain  a  vegetable  condiment,  it  is  necessary 
to  cultivate  the  soil.  The  short  dry  season  is  just 
sufficient  to  permit  the  ripening  of  grain,  and  the 
particular  kind  of  grain  that  serves  as  the  mainstay 
of  the  population  is  eleusine.^^  There  are  three 
granaries  to  each  dwelling;  two  for  the  eleusine  meal 
necessary  for  cooking,  and  the  other  for  grain  to  be 
malted  and  made  into  wine.^*  Minor  cultivated 
products  are  manioc,  yams,  etc. 

The  handicrafts  include  copper  and  iron-work, 
the  making  of  hoes,  weapons,  knives  and  pottery, 
wood-carving,  basket-work,  bark-cloth,  copper  rings, 
etc.^^  Smith-work  is  clever  here  as  among  most 
Negro  tribes. 

An  irregular  trade  is  carried  on  with  the  Nubian 

11  Schweinfurth,  p.  18. 
12/61U,  p.  462. 

13  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  13 ;  Pr6ville,  p.  236. 

14  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  14. 

15  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  25 ;  Long,  p.  275 ;  Junker,  II,  p.  246. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  83 


traffickers,  formerly  consisting  of  ivory  and  slaves. 
The  medium  of  exchange  is  copper  and  iron.^® 

As  for  the  division  of  labor,  **The  men  most 
studiously  devote  themselves  to  their  hunting  and 
leave  the  culture  of  the  soil  to  be  carried  on  exclu- 
sively by  the  women/' 

Family  Life. — Wives  are  purchased  or  obtained  by 
the  giving  of  a  few  knives  to  the  father  of  the  fian- 
cee.^^  The  bargaining,  however,  is  not  so  commer- 
cial as  among  the  pastoral  people.  The  women  ex- 
ercise a  considerable  choice  in  the  selection  of  their 
husbands.  Polygamy  is  permissible,  but  not  prev- 
alent among  the  masses,  perhaps  because  the  pro- 
portion of  the  women  to  the  men  does  not  justify 
it.^^  Eace  antipathy  shows  itself  in  the  tendency  of 
the  Niam-Niam  to  eschew  marriage  with  the  darker 
and  more  negroid  populations  found  on  the  borders. 

The  women  are  chaste  and  modest  to  a  degree  un- 
common among  African  races.  They  are  very  re- 
served and  always  turn  aside  with  averted  face 
upon  meeting  strangers.^^  They,  however,  occupy 
a  less  elevated  position  than  the  women  of  the  Mon- 
buttu,^^  i.  e.,  they  are  more  under  the  subjection  of 
the  men. 

The  families  live  in  small  groups.  **Two,  or  at 
most  three  families,''  says  Schweinfurth,  reside 

18  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  502. 

17  Long,  p.  275. 

18  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  467. 

i»  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  27;  Ihid.,  I,  p.  449. 
20  Junker,  II,  p.  154. 


84  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


close  together.  Generally  from  eight  to  twelve  huts 
are  clustered  round  a  common  open  space,  which  is 
kept  perfectly  clean,  and  in  the  center  of  which  is 
reared  a  post  upon  which  the  trophies  of  the  chase 
are  hung.'^^^  The  nature  of  the  available  agricul- 
tural ground  necessitates  these  scattered  small 
groups.  The  huts  occupied  by  each  family  are  made 
of  boughs  and  thatch ;  they  are  circular  in  form  and 
have  conic  roofs.22  They  are  neatly  built,  clean  in- 
side, and  sometimes  attain  to  SBsthetic  expression. 
The  inhabitants,  says  Johnston,  trace  on  their 
doors  and  walls  pictures  of  animals  and  men,  and 
even  make  attempts  at  rude  sketches  of  scenery, 
either  with  yellow  clay  or  charcoal. ' ' 

The  maintenance  of  the  family  devolves  chiefly 
upon  the  women.  Hunting,  the  occupation  of  the 
men,  does  not  yield  a  regular  or  sufficient  supply  of 
food.  ^^The  domestic  duties  of  the  housewife,*' 
says  Schweinfurth,  consist  mainly  in  cultivating 
the  homestead,  preparing  the  daily  meals,  painting 
the  husband's  body,  and  dressing  his  hair,'' 

The  marriage  bond  is  relatively  strong.  **It  is 
one  of  the  fine  traits  of  the  Niam-Niam,"  says 
Schweinfurth,  *Hhat  they  display  an  affection  for 
their  wives  which  is  unparalleled  among  natives  of 
so  low  a  grade. "  *  *  A  husband  will  spare  no  sac- 
rifice to  redeem  an  imprisoned  wife,  and  the  Nubians, 

21  Junker,  I,  p.  449. 

22  Junker,  III,  p.  7. 

23  "George  GrenfeU  and  the  Congo."  II,  p.  758. 

24  II,  p.  28. 

25  I,  p.  449. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  85 


being  acquainted  with  this,  turn  it  to  profitable  ac- 
count in  the  ivory  trade.  They  are  quite  aware  that 
whoever  possesses  a  female  hostage  can  obtain  al- 
most any  compensation  from  a  Niam-Niam. " 

Children  require  little  care,  but  they  are  valuable 
as  field  workers,  and  this  brings  to  them  a  parental 
oversight  greater  than  is  common  to  the  natives  of 
the  banana  or  cattle  zones. 

Inheritance  is  in  the  male  line,  the  eldest  son  be- 
ing the  heir  to  the  family  property .^^ 

Political  Life. — It  would  seem  that  the  people  of 
this  zone,  on  account  of  their  homogeneity,  would 
form  themselves  into  a  single  nation;  but  the  geo- 
graphical divisions,  made  by  the  innumerable  hills, 
swamps  and  rivers,  oppose  the  development  of  large 
political  units.  There  are  only  two  groups  that  rise 
to  the  magnitude  of  empires ;  the  rest  of  the  popula- 
tion is  divided  into  small  chieftainships.  Not  being 
a  country  rich  in  nature's  bounty,  there  is  little  pres- 
sure of  outside  populations  into  this  region.  The 
necessity  for  consolidation,  therefore,  is  not  urgent 
on  political  grounds.  An  internal  factor,  however, 
making  for  unity  in  any  group  is  the  necessity  for 
conservation.  Wherever  the  conditions  of  existence 
demand  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  storing  of 
food  for  winter,  there  is  developed  in  the  commu- 
nity a  strong  impulse  operating  to  arrest  the  strug- 
gle between  individuals.  The  members  of  the  group 
feel  a  common  interest,  and  tend  to  wage  war  only 
upon  strangers.    Thus  the  area  of  peace  tends  to 

26 1,  p.  472.  27  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  22. 


86  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


expand  into  the  whole  territory  of  a  people  in  pro- 
portion to  the  solicitude,  conservation,  and  foresight 
necessary  to  support  the  population.^^  This  natural 
tendency  to  unite  is  enhanced  by  the  desire  to  raid 
foreign  territory  for  the  capture  of  game  and  human 
flesh. 

The  aggressive  movements  in  this  zone  do  not 
often  result  in  empire  building,  on  account  of  the 
high  grass  and  many  rivers  that  impede  the  move- 
ments of  troops,  and  thus  leave  the  conquered  peo- 
ple in  isolation.29  The  spirit  of  isolation  is  stronger 
that  that  of  cohesion.  The  circumstances  of  warfare 
here  do  not  favor  the  rise  of  great  military  captains 
as  in  the  open  country  of  South  Africa.  As  the  raid- 
ers launch  forth  in  small  bands  upon  their  enemy, 
they  are  thrown  back  largely  upon  individual  skill 
and  cunning,  and  under  this  discipline  each  fighter 
acquires  mastery  in  the  art  of  attack.  **With  his 
lance  in  one  hand,"  says  Schweinfurth,  ^*his  woven 
shield  and  trumbash  (a  throw-stick  with  sharp  iron 
edges  and  prongs)  in  the  other,  with  his  scimiter  in 
his  girdle,  and  his  loins  encircled  by  a  skin  to  which 
are  attached  the  tails  of  several  animals,  adorned  on 
his  breast  and  on  his  forehead  by  strings  of  teeth,  the 
trophies  of  war  and  of  the  chase ;  his  long  hair  float- 
ing freely  over  his  neck  and  shoulders ;  his  large  keen 
eyes  gleaming  from  beneath  his  heavy  brow;  his 
white  and  pointed  teeth  shining  from  between  his 

28  Schrader,  "Echanges  d'activite  entre  la  terre  et  rhomme." 
Revue  Mensuelle  de  V^lcole  d*Anthropologie,  Vol.  6,  p.  35. 

29  Junker,  II,  p.  185. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  87 


parted  lips,  lie  advances  with  a  firm  and  defiant  bear- 
ing, so  that  the  stranger  as  he  gazes  upon  him  may 
well  behold,  in  this  true  son  of  the  African  wilder- 
ness, every  attitude  of  the  wildest  savagery  that  may 
be  conjured  up  by  the  boldest  flight  of  fancy.  No- 
where in  any  part  of  Africa,  have  I  ever  come  across 
a  people  that  in  every  attitude  and  ever  motion  ex- 
hibited so  thorough  a  mastery  of  all  the  circum- 
stances of  war  and  of  the  chase  as  these  Niam- 
Niam.''3o 

The  border  states  would  offer  no  serious  obstacles 
to  the  expansion  of  the  Niam-Niam  if  the  internal 
conditions  favored  a  larger  and  more  compact  unity. 

The  individual  governments  are  hereditary 
monarchies,  the  eldest  son  generally  being  the  heir 
to  title  and  dignity.  The  other  sons  command 
fighting  forces  in  the  outlying  districts,  and  have 
a  share  of  the  booty .^^  The  rulers  of  the  small 
groups  are  scattered,  possess  little  authority,  and 
**few  in  any  way  merit  the  designation  of  king."^^ 
The  smallness  of  the  groups,  and  the  consequent 
individuality  developed,  do  not  conduce  to  abso- 
lutism. The  difficulties  of  communication  would 
prevent  the  possibility  of  an  effective  central  gov- 
ernment. Hence  the  rulers  have  not  the  chance  to 
learn  and  transmit  the  art  of  governing. 

Beyond  a  separation  maintained  between  the  rul- 
ing and  the  subject  classes  there  is  no  caste  system 
among  the  Niam-Niam.    Such  a  system  is  every- 

30  II,  p.  12.  32  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  22. 

81  Schweinfurth,  II.  p.  22. 


88  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


where  mucli  more  likely  to  develop  among  agricul- 
tural than  pastoral  people,  since  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  offers  employment  to  a  large  number  of 
hand-workers.  Among  the  Niam-Niam,  however, 
the  women  do  all  of  the  drudgery,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing to  distinguish  one  man's  occupation  from  an- 
other's, all  men  being  hunters  and  fighters. 
Moreover,  the  smallness  of  the  groups  is  unfavor- 
able to  the  development  of  that  racial  or  class  con- 
sciousness which  builds  up  castes. 

Legislative  councils  do  not  seem  to  be  very  active 
in  this  zone.  The  chief  generally  decides  for  him- 
self the  question  of  war  or  hunting ;  he  calls  the  men 
together  and  assumes  the  command.  Internal 
government  has  passed  through  the  stage  of  private 
revenge.  Each  group,  through  its  officers  and 
guided  by  custom,  punishes  for  injuries  to  any  indi- 
vidual. Mutilation  of  the  nose,  ear  or  finger  is  a 
common  mode  of  punishment  for  theft  and  seduc- 
tion.^^ "Where  the  Nubians  have  penetrated  and 
usurped  governments,  as  they  have  in  many  parts, 
a  whip  of  the  hippopotamus  hide  has  come  into  vig- 
orous use.^^  A  Niam-Niam  chief  is  supported 
mainly  from  the^roduce  from  his  farms,  but  he  takes 
a  large  share  of  booty  in  the  form  of  elephant's  flesh, 
ivory  and  slaves.  In  some  cases  revenue  is  paid  reg- 
ularly in  boys  and  girls.^^ 

All  of  the  governments  of  this  zone  are  naturally 
shifting  and  unstable,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  geo- 

83  Junker,  II,  p.  310.  35  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  21. 

s*  Ihid.,  p.  257. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE 


89 


graphical  factors  that  hinder  integration,  but  the 
invasions  of  the  Arab-Nubians  from  the  northeast 
prior  to  1882  and  the  recent  interference  of  the 
Congo  Free  State  and  the  Anglo-Egyptians  have 
hastened  the  political  disintegration. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  NIAM-NIAM  OF  THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  {contiflUed) 

Religious  Life. — The  religion  of  the  Niam-Niam  is 
fetich,  but  in  a  form  in  which  terror  of  spirits  is  not 
so  dominant  as  in  the  ordinary  fetich  beliefs.  The 
phenomena  of  nature  are  not  such  as  to  excite  a  great 
amount  of  terror,  and  the  struggle  for  existence  gives 
to  the  people  a  sort  of  mastery  over  nature  which  is 
unfavorable  to  the  development  of  the  grosser  forms 
of  superstition,  involving  idolatry  and  human  sacri- 
fices. Instead  of  worshipping  terrible  gods,  falling 
down  before  idols,  and  offering  propitiatory  gifts 
and  sacrifices,  the  people  seek  their  ends  largely 
by  means  of  magic,  i.  e.,  they  consult  the  oracle  and 
use  charms.^  For  example,  the  possession  of  certain 
magic  roots  contributes  to  the  success  of  the  chase  or 
brings  rain.^  Criminals  and  witches  are  detected  by 
ordeal,  and  the  fortunes  of  war  revealed  by  augury. 
*^An  oily  fluid  concocted  from  a  red  wood  is  ad- 
ministered to  a  hen.  If  the  bird  dies  there  will  be 
misfortune  in  war  and  if  the  bird  survives  there 
will  be  victory.*'^   Diseases  and  deaths  are  caused 

1  Long,  I,  p.  437. 

2  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  493. 

s  Schweinfurth,  II,  pp.  33,  34,  119. 

90 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  91 


by  evil  spirits  and  the  wizard  man  is  employed  to 
conjure  them.  He  does  a  general  practice,  including 
exorcism,  administration  of  drugs,  roots  and  herbs, 
the  manufacture  of  charms,  and  the  prophecy  of  fu- 
ture events.  He  dances  to  the  drum  beat  and 
catches  messages  from  potent  underground  spirits.* 
His  function  is  similar  to  that  of  the  soothsayer 
among  the  Eomans,  and  probably  in  some  degree  he 
promotes  uprightness.  The  Koman  senate  in  Cic- 
ero 's  time  consulted  soothsayers  to  know  the  meaning 
of  certain  strange  happenings.  The  reply  would  be 
to  the  effect  that  the  sacred  places  were  profaned,  the 
public  rites  neglected  and  sundry  vices  committed. 
In  the  same  way  the  African  magic  diviner  censures 
people  for  their  shortcomings  and  warns  them 
against  departure  from  custom.  The  religion  of 
the  Niam-Niam  has  been  modified  and  supplemented 
to  a  great  extent  within  the  last  half  century  by  Mo- 
hammedanism. 

Ceremonial  Life. — Ceremony  is  not  elaborate 
among  the  Niam-Niam.  Their  economic  life  is  not 
encumbered  with  rites  as  among  the  West  Africans 
of  the  banana  zone.  Certain  customary  rules  apply 
to  courtship,  marriage,  and  the  relations  of  parents 
to  children.  The  people  have  words  of  greeting  and 
of  farewell.  When  two  people  meet  they  join  right 
hands  and  nod  at  each  other  with  a  strange  move- 
ment which,  to  a  European,  looks  like  a  gesture  of 
repulse.^  State  ceremony  is  simple.  The  equality 
of  the  people  and  their  small  groups  do  not  conduce 

♦  Junker,  II,  p.  137.  s  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  27. 


92  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


to  forms  and  ceremonies  intended  to  overawe  the 
populace  and  keep  each  class  in  its  proper  subordi- 
nation. The  chief  disdains  external  pomp,  and 
repudiates  any  ostentatious  display."^  The  wiz- 
ards have  set  forms  for  their  various  manipulations. 
For  example,  in  connection  with  the  augury  they  use 
a  small  flat-topped  stool.  After  having  wetted  the 
top  of  the  stool  with  a  drop  or  two  of  water,  they 
grasp  the  block  and  rub  its  smooth  part  backwards 
over  the  level  surface  with  the  same  motion  as  if 
they  were  using  a  plane.  If  the  wood  should  glide 
easily  along,  the  conclusion  is  drawn  that  the  un- 
dertaking in  question  will  assuredly  prosper.""^ 

-^Esthetic  Life. — The  Niam-Niam  are  greatly  ab- 
sorbed in  the  aesthetic  life,  and,  as  among  most  Ne- 
groes, give  much  attention  to  adornment  of  their 
bodies.  They  make  various  tattoo  marks  upon  their 
foreheads,  temples  and  cheeks,  and  sometimes  upon 
their  chests  and  arms.^  They  file  their  incisors  to 
a  point,  and  follow  the  custom,  prevalent  from  the 
Nile  to  the  Kameruns,  of  plucking  out  the  eyelashes 
and  eyebrows.^  They  have  their  skins  painted  in 
stripes,  like  those  of  the  tiger,  with  the  juice  of  the 
Blippo."  The  painting  of  the  body  is  done  by  a 
class  of  specialists.^^  They  dress  in  cotton  garments 
obtained  by  barter,  in  bark-cloth  imported  from  the 

6  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  21. 

7  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  32. 

8  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  7 ;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  430. 

9  Ratzel,  III,  p.  49. 

10  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  440. 

11  Junker,  II,  p.  241. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  93 


Monbnttu,*^  or  in  skins  of  native  manufacture 
which  are  fastened  to  a  girdle  and  form  a  pictur- 
esque drapery  about  the  loins/' Their  head- 
dressing  is  as  profuse  as  their  body-dressing  is 
meager.  It  is  difficult  to  discover  any  kind  of  plaits, 
tufts  or  top-knots  which  have  not  been  in  vogue. 
Hats  are  worn  made  of  straw  and  fastened  on  by 
means  of  long  bodkins  of  iron  or  copper,  or  ivory, 
monkey  or  human  bones.  Only  men  wear  hats  with 
feathers. It  is  the  fashion  to  wear  rings  in  the 
nose  and  ear,  and  on  the  arms  and  legs.^^  very 
favorite  decoration  is  formed  of  the  incisor  teeth  of 
a  dog,  strung  together  under  the  hair,  and  hanging 
along  the  forehead  like  a  fringe. ''^"^  Sometimes  a 
necklace  is  worn  made  of  the  teeth  of  people  who 
have  been  slain  and  eaten.^^ 

The  dress  and  decorations  of  the  Niam-Niam  sug- 
gest that  the  practice  of  covering  the  body  grew  out 
of  coquetry,  as  Thomas  and  Sumner  assert,^^  and 
not,  as  Eatzel  claims,  from  the  desire  of  the  husband 
to  diminish  the  attraction  of  the  wife.^^ 

The  Niam-Niam  show  artistic  treatment  of  uten- 
sils which  are  often  admirable  works  of  art.^^  They 

12  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  480. 

13  Ibid.,  IT,  p.  7. 

14  Ibid,,  II,  p.  7 ;  Long,  I,  p.  435. 

15  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  44. 

16  Long,  I,  p.  275. 

17  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  8. 

18  Ibid,,  II,  p.  18. 

le  Sumner,  ^'Folkways,"  p.  446. 

20  Thomas,  "Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  549. 

21  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  471;  Junker,  II,  p.  246. 


94  THE  NEGKO  EACES 


rejoice  in  music,  and  nse  a  variety  of  stringed  in- 
struments of  which  the  favorite  is  a  sort  of  mando- 
lin.^* A  kind  of  drama  or  opera  is  common  in  which 
one  man  is  the  whole  caste.  There  is  a  singular 
class  of  professional  musicians,"  says  Schweinfurth, 
*^who  make  their  appearance  decked  out  in  the  most 
fantastic  way  with  feathers,  and  covered  with  a 
promiscuous  array  of  bits  of  wood  and  roots,  and  all 
the  pretentious  emblems  of  magic  art,  the  feet  of 
earth-pigs,  the  shells  of  tortoises,  the  beaks  of  eagles, 
the  claws  of  birds,  and  teeth  in  every  variety.  .  .  . 
Whenever  one  of  his  fraternity  presents  himself,  he 
at  once  begins  to  recite  all  the  details  of  his  travels 
and  experiences  in  an  emphatic  recitative,  and  never 
forgets  to  conclude  by  an  appeal  to  the  liberality  of 
his  audience. ' '  Junker  says  that  certain  trouba- 
dours recite  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  musical  in- 
strument the  deeds  of  their  ancestors.^^  An  em- 
bryonic drama  may  be  seen  in  the  sham  fighting 
which  takes  place  in  the  war  dance.^^  Spencer's 
theory  that  the  dramatist  arose  from  the  medicine 
man  seems  to  find  no  confirmation  in  the  facts  stated 
in  this  book. 

Psychological  Characteristics. — The  Niam-Niam 
have  a  cranial  capacity  above  that  of  the  average 
Negro.  Their  skulls  are  larger  than  those  of 
the  Monbuttu  of  the  banana  zone,  and  more  doli- 

in,  p.  14. 

23  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  30. 

24  III,  p.  21. 

25  Ibid.,  II,  p.  237. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  95 


chocephalic  in  form.^^  Dunn  thinks  that  agricul- 
tural people  are  generally  more  progressive  and  de- 
velop larger  brains  than  people  living  upon  the 
bounty  of  nature.^^  The  dolichocephalic  type,  ac- 
cording to  Closson,  is  everywhere  more  domineering 
and  ambitious,  and  is  more  generally  represented 
among  the  higher  and  ruling  classes,  and  more 
largely  represented  in  cities.^^ 

As  the  groups  of  Niam-Niam  are  small  and  the 
life  uncomplex,  the  mental  development  has  pro- 
ceeded along  narrow  lines.  The  efforts  put  forth  in 
hunting  and  war  have  developed  keenness  of  per- 
ception, cunning  and  pugnacity.  The  cultivation 
of  the  soil  has  developed  some  foresight  and  thrift. 
A  considerable  degree  of  independence,  will-power 
and  pride  is  manifested,  while  the  feelings  and  pas- 
sions of  the  people  do  not  so  completely  submerge 
the  whole  mind  as  is  the  case  among  other  branches 
of  the  Negro  race.  Abstract  ideas  are  few  29  as  lit- 
tle opportunity  offers  for  their  use  in  so  simple  a 
social  life.  The  Niam-Niam  share,  with  the  other 
members  of  the  Galla  stock,  in  a  somewhat  forceful 
and  domineering  spirit.  Family  affection  and  con- 
sideration for  women  are  fostered  by  the  isolated 
life,  imposing  mutual  interdependence  in  the  home, 
and  the  exchange  of  sacrifices  and  sympathies.  A 
similar  isolation  of  the  Europeans  in  the  Middle 

26  Slirubsall,  "Notes  on  Crania  from  the  Nile-WeUe  Watershed," 
Jour.  Anthropological  Inst.  n.  s.  31,  p.  2567. 

27  Page  17. 

28  Pages  93,  94. 

20  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  31. 


96  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Ages,  produced,  in  a  still  greater  degree,  tlie  do- 
mestic virtues,  and  the  exaltation  of  women  and 
the  home.  The  instinct  of  pugnacity  here,  as  also 
in  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages,  has  played  a  part 
in  drawing  the  members  of  the  groups  into  bonds 
of  common  sympathy  through  the  welding  of  the 
population  into  small  defensive  groups.  This  in- 
stinct here,  as  everywhere,  has  been  of  vast  im- 
portance in  the  socialization  of  humanity.  By 
inciting  wars  it  has  forced  people  to  cooperate, 
pool  their  interests,  and  act  harmoniously  within 
the  cooperative  area.  War  is  thus  the  agent 
of  peace.  It  is  the  disciplinary  school  in  which 
civilization  learns  its  first  lesson.  Not  only  does  it 
promote  peace  within  the  group,  but  it  promotes 
industry,  science,  and  all  rational  forms  of  progress, 
since  the  instinct  to  fight  is  carried  over  into  the 
realm  of  peaceful  activities.  Instead  of  the  war 
of  fire  and  sword,  we  have  the  war  of  tools,  ma- 
chinery, commodities  and  ideas.  The  pugnacious 
instinct  is  cultivated  by  every  form  of  combat,  and 
it  is  stronger  in  ci\dlized  people  than  in  savages, 
because  of  the  greater  multiplicity  of  activities  that 
excite  it.  From  the  games  played  by  children  and 
adults  up  to  the  rivalry  of  nations  for  intellectual 
and  moral  supremacy  we  see  the  play  of  this  in- 
stinct.^^ 

Within  each  group  the  Niam-Niam  manifest  the 
traits,  common  to  all  natural  peoples,  of  kindness, 
mutual  helpfulness   and  justice.    Junker  remarks 

30  McDougall,  p.  279;  Small,  Ch.  20. 


THE  ELEUSINE  ZONE  97 


that  they  are  less  prone  than  civilized  people  to 
rancor  and  sullen  anger  that  result  in  deeds  of  vio- 
lence.^^  Theft  is  rare  even  against  strangers.^^  In 
the  trial  by  ordeal  the  Niam-Niam  administer  the 
poison  to  a  fowl  and  not  to  the  person  accused,  and 
this  indicates  a  less  cruel  disposition  than  is  found 
in  the  banana  zone.^^  Princes  and  chiefs,  once  won, 
says  Junker,  are  more  loyal  than  those  of  other  black 
tribes.^^ 

Beyond  the  felicity  prevailing  in  the  primary 
group  there  is  little  opportunity  for  moral  progress. 
The  rule  of  custom  and  tradition  is  sufficient  to 
ensure  a  continuance  of  the  felicity  of  the  individual 
groups,  but  lack  of  communication  with  outside 
groups  prevents  the  expansion  of  sympathy,  and 
lack  of  interdependence  prevents  the  development 
of  notions  of  abstract  right.  Custom  alone  is  right, 
and  this  involves  no  reflection  or  moral  conscious- 
ness. The  conception  of  ideal  conduct  depends  up- 
on rational  choice  and  deliberation,  and  these  de- 
pend upon  the  possession  of  abstract  ideas  and 
critically  established  knowledge  which  never  de- 
velop among  people  who  are  governed  solely  by 
tradition.^^    Everywhere  in  Negro  Africa  the  man- 

31 II,  p.  140. 

32  Ihid.,  p.  310. 

33  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  692. 

34  II,  p.  425. 

35  Giddings,  "Elements  of  Sociology,"  p.  154;  Marett  distinguishes 
two  stages  in  the  development  of  morality.  First,  the  synnomic, 
i.  e.,  sharing  customs;  and  second,  syntelic,  sharing  ends  or  purposes. 
The  one  is  conduct  based  upon  habit  and  the  other  conduct  based 
upon  reflection.    Page  266. 


98  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


ner  of  life  is  too  simple  to  give  rise  to  mucli  knowl- 
edge or  deliberation,  and  hence  the  highest  type  of 
character  does  not  come  to  fruition.  The  Negro  acts 
npon  suggestions  from  the  mass  of  men,  or  from  tra- 
dition, and  not  from  any  ideal.  *  *  For  the  generation 
of  moral  character  in  the  fullest  sense,"  says  Mc- 
Dougall,  **the  strong  self -regarding  sentiment  must 
be  combined  with  one  for  some  ideal  conduct,  and 
it  must  have  risen  above  dependence  on  the  regards 
of  the  mass  of  men;  and  the  motives  supplied  by 
this  master  sentiment  in  the  service  of  the  ideal 
must  attain  an  habitual  predominance. ' ' 

Idealism  can  have  little  effect  in  a  depressing 
climate,  or  under  any  conditions  that  produce  con- 
tinuous feelings  of  weariness.  In  temperate  cli- 
mates the  mind  is  stimulated,  and  the  imagination 
remains  active,  fortifying  any  temporary  state  of 
distress  by  images  of  future  joy  and  satisfaction. 
''When  the  agitative  point  begins  to  be  reached," 
says  Williams,  'Hhe  imagination  begins  to  wander 
in  search  of  forceful  or  expansive  images."  For 
example,  an  isolated  mother  escapes  from  a  mood  of 
agitative  anxiety  over  her  absent  children  (who  are 
at  school)  by  imagining  that  she  is  preparing  them 
for  the  Battles  of  Free  Methodism,  or  that  Jesus 
will  take  care  of  them.  The  blindness  and  adversi- 
ties of  Milton  sent  his  imagination  in  search  of  force- 
ful images  and  the  result  was  Paradise  Lost.^"^  In 
a  mind  excessively  wearied  and  vexed,  however,  the 
imagination  is  limp  and  finds  no  sustaining  images 
or  ideals. 


36  Page  261. 


57  Williams,  p.  754, 


CHAPTEE  X 


THE  MONBUTTU  OF  THE  BANANA  ZONE 

General  Description  of  the  Country. — The  banana 
zone  in  Africa  occupies  a  vast  region,  as  may  be 
seen  by  reference  to  the  map;  bnt  that  portion  of 
it  inhabited  by  the  branch  of  the  Galla  race  un- 
der consideration  comprises  a  section  of  country 
south  of  the  Welle  Eiver,  extending  east  to  the  pla- 
teau skirting  the  Bahr  el  Jebel,  and  west  to  about 
the  25th  meridian,  and  south  to  the  Ituri  River. 
It  has  an  elevation  ranging  from  2,500  to  3,000 
feet,  and  it  is  characterized  by  alternating  depres- 
sions and  gentle  slopes.  It  is  almost  under  the  equa- 
tor and  is  therefore  more  densely  forested  than  the 
country  of  the  Niam-Niam.  It  is  the  land  of  the 
banana,  plantain  and  oil-palm.  Unnumbered! 
groves  of  plantains  bedeck  the  gently  heaving  soil," 
says  Schweinfurth,  oil-palms,  incomparable  in 
beauty,  and  other  monarchs  of  the  stately  woods, 
rise  up  and  spread  their  glory  over  the  favored 
scene."  ^  In  the  more  open  and  sloping  regions 
abound  the  big  game,  while  animals  of  a  smaller 
kind  live  in  the  thicknesses  of  the  forest. 

The  Inhabitants.— The  branch  of  the  Galla  type  of 

1 II,  p.  86. 

99 


100  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Negro  in  this  region  is  known  as  the  Monbnttu,  also 
called  Mangbattu,  wlio  number  about  one  million. 
These  Negroes,  like  the  Niam-Niam,  have  the  general 
physiognomy  of  the  Galla,^  but,  in  color  of  skin,  they 
are  **of  a  lighter  tint  than  almost  all  the  known 
natives  of  Central  Africa."  Their  color  is  that  of 
ground  coffee  as  compared  to  the  chocolate  or  ripe 
olive  of  the  Niam-Niam.^  Eatzel  thinks  that  their 
lighter  color  is  due  to  the  greater  immigration  of 
people  from  the  eastern  mountains.^  Another  ex- 
planation, however,  may  be  found  in  the  dense  shade 
of  the  country  which  prevents  the  skin  from  develop- 
ing a  very  thick  layer  of  pigment.  In  the  curve  of 
their  nose  the  Monbuttu  recall  the  Semitic  type.-'^ 

Economic.  Life. — The  food  of  the  people  is  funda- 
mentally vegetable,^  consisting  chiefly  of  the  plan- 
tain, for  the  cultivation  of  which  many  clearances  are 
made."^  Systematic  agriculture  is  little  practiced  on 
account  of  the  rapid  growth  of  weeds.  Some  sesame 
is  grown,  some  earth-nuts,  sweet-potatoes,  sugar- 
cane, manioc  and  tobacco.^  There  are  no  domestic 
animals  except  the  dog  and  some  poultry.^  The 
chase  furnishes  an  occasional  mess  of  meat  of  such 
animals  as  the  elephant,  buffalo,  wild  boar  and  ante- 

2  Deniker,  p.  441. 

3  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  100. 

4  III,  p.  54. 

5  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  107. 
e  Halkin,  p.  21. 

7  Ibid.,  II,  pp.  86,  88. 

sihid.,  1,  p.  526;  II,  p.  87;  Halkin,  pp.  21,  23. 
0  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  89;  Halkin,  p.  69. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE 


101 


lope;  while  the  streams  supply  a  quantity  of  fish.^^ 
The  meat  supply  is  irregular  and  sometimes  reaches 
the  stage  of  famine,  and  this  has  probably  given 
rise  to  the  practice  of  cannibalism.^^  **The  canni- 
balism of  the  Monbuttu,'*  says  Schweinfurth,  *4s 
the  most  pronounced  of  all  the  known  nations  of 
Africa.  Surrounded  as  they  are  by  a  number  of 
people  who  are  blacker  than  themselves,  and  who, 
being  inferior  to  them  in  culture,  are  consequently 
held  in  great  contempt,  they  have  just  the  op- 
portunity which  they  want  for  carrying  on  ex- 
peditions of  war  or  plunder,  which  result  in  the 
acquisition  of  booty,  which  is  especially  coveted 
by  them,  consisting  of  human  flesh.  The  carcasses 
of  all  who  fall  in  battle  are  distributed  upon  the 
battlefield  and  are  prepared  by  drying  for  trans- 
portation to  the  homes  of  the  conquerors.'' 
Schweinfurth  once  came  ^^unexpectedly  upon  a  num- 
ber of  young  women  who  had  a  supply  of  boiling 
water  in  front  of  the  doorway  of  a  hut,  and  were 
engaged  in  the  task  of  scalding  the  hair  off  the  lower 
half  of  a  human  body.''  .  .  .  On  another  occasion 
he  was  in  a  hut  ^*and  observed  a  human  arm  hang- 
ing over  the  fire,  obviously  with  the  design  of  being 
at  once  dried  and  smoked."^-  He  considers  it  a 
fallacy  to  suppose  that  cannibalism  is  due  to  a 
scarcity  of  meat,^^  yet  he  himself  suffered  for  lack 

10  Schweinfurth,  II,  pp.  89,  90;  Halkin,  p.  63. 
iiCureau,  p.  642;  Junker,  II,  p.  233;  Halkin,  p.  13. 
12  II,  p.  93. 
18  II,  p.  89. 


102  THE  NEGEO  RACES 


of  meat  in  that  country. Stanley  in  the  Upper 
Congo  region  also  suffered  from  want  of  meat.^^ 

In  the  arts  and  crafts  the  Monbuttu  take  a  high 
rank.  They  make  a  great  variety  and  quantity  of 
platters,  stools,  boats,  shields,  drums,  and  copper 
and  iron  fabrics;  they  also  make  excellent  pottery 
and  baskets.  They  do  not,  however,  weave  cloth.^^ 
Trade  is  carried  on  at  local  markets,  and  transpor- 
tation is  by  porters  and  canoes.  Slaves  used  to  be 
the  chief  standard  of  value  and  medium  of  ex- 
changed^ 

There  is  not  much  division  of  labor.  Whilst  the 
women  attend  to  the  tillage  of  the  soil  and  gather- 
ing of  the  harvest,  the  men,  except  they  are  absent 
either  for  war  or  hunting,  spend  the  entire  day  in 
idleness.''  The  women  and  children  perform  the 
labor  of  collecting  the  bananas.^^  While  savage  men 
appear  to  shift  too  large  a  burden  upon  the  weaker 
sex,  it  is  probable  that  division  of  labor  between  men 
and  women  is  rather  well  balanced.  The  men  work 
with  irregularity  but  with  greater  and  more  violent 
expenditure  of  energy.^^ 

Slaves  as  a  class  scarcely  exist,  since  there  is  no 
agriculture  to  give  them  emplojonent.    The  cap- 

14  II,  p.  68. 

15  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  p.  152. 

16  Schweinfurth,  II,  pp.  88,  91,  113. 
iTHalkin,  p.  141. 

18  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  90. 
isPr^ville,  p.  218. 

20  Thomas,  "Sex  and  Society,"  pp.  123,  146. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  103 


tives  in  war  are  used  for  food  or  for  sale  to  slave 
traders. 

There  is  almost  no  capital  employed  in  industry. 
Even  tlie  building  of  a  granary  to  conserve  surplus 
grain  is  unknown.  Wlien  a  man  dies  there  is  noth- 
ing of  value  to  transmit  except  the  plantain  grove, 
and  this  passes  from  father  to  son.^^ 

Family  Life. — The  Monbuttu  obtain  their  wives  by 
capture,  or  by  gifts  to  parents.  The  bride-price  is 
paid  in  knives,  dogs,  slaves  and  lances.^^  Polygamy 
is  common,  and  wives  must  be  obtained  from  out- 
side the  community.  This  practice  (exogamy)  wher- 
ever it  has  existed,  says  Lang,  developed  under  the 
system  of  totem  superstitions  and  tabus,  but  prior 
to  these  the  tendency  may  have  developed  through 
sexual  jealousy  and  superstition,  and  indifference 
to  persons  familiar  from  infancy.^^  In  contrast  to 
the  Niam-Niam  the  women  are  immodest  and  for- 
ward, and  not  a  few  are  openly  obscene.^^  All  girls 
lose  their  virginity  before  puberty  and  sometimes  by 
rape.-^  The  dwelling  houses  are  generally  large 
and  rectangular  in  form,  and  display  some  artistic 
taste.-^  The  round  hut  with  conic  roof  is  also 
found.2^    The  interior  is  furnished  with  stools, 

21  Halkin,  p.  133. 
22Halkin,  p.  83. 

23  Thomas,  "Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  34. 

24  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  91. 

25  Halkin,  pp.  81,  83. 

26  Ibid.,  pp.  49,  51 ;  Junker,  III,  p.  7. 
2T  Halkin,  p.  49 ;  Ratzel,  III,  p.  66. 


104  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


benclies,  mats,  platters,  etc.^^  The  women  do  most 
of  the  work  of  maintaining  the  population,  and 
it  is  partly  on  this  account  and  on  account  of  the 
matrilocal  marriage  (husband  living  with  his  wife's 
people)  that  they  enjoy  a  degree  of  independence. 
They  do  not  abase  themselves  before  their  husbands 
as  is  common  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  Affection 
between  husband  and  wife  seems  to  be  very  marked 
here,  as  also  among  the  Niam-Niam,  and  there  seems 
to  be  a  considerable  affection  between  parents  and 
children.  Men  will  risk  their  lives  to  save  their 
wives  and  sisters,  and  will  even  fight  against  the 
loss  of  their  children.^^  The  Monbuttu,  says  Junker, 
take  pleasure  in  their  children  and  fondle  them  more 
than  other  Negroes.^^ 

Political  Life. — The  abundant  natural  resources 
attract  into  this  zone,  and  maintain,  a  large  popula- 
tion; and  the  pressure  from  outside  compels  the 
grouping  into  large  masses,^ ^  and  the  organization  of 
government  upon  a  military  basis.  Successful  de- 
fence here,  as  everywhere  among  military  states, 
leads  to  aggression  upon  neighbors.  In  the  case  of 
the  Monbuttu,  the  craving  for  human  flesh  adds  a 
keen  zest  to  the  predatory  tendency.  The  homo- 
geneity of  the  race  favors  unity,  and  excludes 
federation  with,  or  absorption  by,  the  darker  peo- 
ples of  the  south.  The  expansion  of  the  Monbuttu 
into  the  north  is  hindered  by  the  superior  Niam- 
Niam,  and  by  the  geographical  obstructions  already 

28  Junker,  II,  p.  282.  so  n,  p.  233. 

2»  Halkin,  pp.  27,  91.  si  Halkin,  p.  21. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE 


105 


described.  On  the  south  and  west  they  are  checked 
by  the  still  more  impenetrable  forest,  and  on  the 
east  by  the  domain  of  the  more  aggressive  pastoral 
people.  The  superiority  in  numbers  would  give  the 
Monbuttu  a  great  military  advantage  but  for  the 
difficulties  mentioned.  The  frequency  of  war  and 
the  complex  problems  due  to  the  dense  population 
would  seem  to  develop  superior  leadership.  The 
fighting  force,  however,  is  relatively  inefficient,  since 
the  men  are  enervated  by  the  climate,  and  have  too 
easy  a  time  with  nature  to  develop  spirit  and  intel- 
ligence. They  hold  their  own  against  their  neigh- 
bors by  superiority  of  numbers. 

The  forest  of  the  country  is  open  enough  to  facili- 
tate communication,  and  this  fact,  together  with  the 
defensive  warfare  conduces  to  centralized  authority. 
The  population  is  divided  principally  into  two  large 
kingdoms ;  one  in  the  east,  and  the  other  in  the  west,^^ 
and  the  form  of  the  governments  is  that  of  absolu- 
tism modified  by  a  council  of  elders."^  The  indolence 
of  the  people  and  their  low  order  of  intelligence  are 
also  factors  favorable  to  absolute  rule.  Everything 
touched  by  the  king  becomes  sacred:  no  one  hence- 
forth is  allowed  to  touch  it.  The  king  is  a  man  of 
large  possessions.  His  provincial  governors  are 
chosen  from  the  royal  family.  His  council  is  com- 
posed of  a  keeper  of  weapons,  master  of  ceremonies, 
superintendent  of  the  commissariat,  master  of  the 
household  of  royal  ladies,  and  an  interpreter  for 

32  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  83. 
asPrgvUle,  p.  224;  Halkin,  p.  159. 


106  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


strangers.^^  *'The  sub-cMeftains  or  viceroys/' 
says  Schweinfurth,  *^are  distributed  over  various 
sections  of  the  country,  and  they  are  accustomed  to 
surround  themselves  with  a  retinue  and  state  little 
inferior  to  those  of  the  kings  themselves.  The 
chiefs  claim  all  the  ivory  of  the  country  and  a  share 
of  the  products  of  the  soil."  They  also  exact  tribute 
in  boys  and  girls  whom  they  sell  to  slave  traders, 
along  with  ivory,  in  exchange  for  provisions  and 
trinkets.  In  fact,  the  subjects  live  upon  the  residue 
of  production  after  the  chiefs  have  taken  all  that 
they  want.  The  Monbuttu  governing  class,  how- 
ever, should  not  be  judged  too  harshly.  It  is  little 
different    from    those    who    govern  elsewhere. 

There  is  no  class,''  says  Sumner,  which  can  be 
trusted  to  rule  society  with  due  justice  to  all,  not 
abusing  its  power  for  its  own  sake.  .  .  .  The  ruling 
classes  in  mediaeval  society  were  warriors  and  ec- 
clesiastics and  they  used  all  their  powers  to  ag- 
grandize themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
classes."  Something  of  the  same  kind  might  be 
said  of  our  modern  classes. 

At  the  end  of  each  Monbuttu  village  is  a  palaver 
house  where  the  council  of  elders  meets  to  dispense 
justice.^^  In  the  judicial  proceedings  the  chief  is 
the  principal  judge.  **0n  one  occasion,"  says 
Junker,  **a  man  brought  a  complaint  against  the 
wooer  of  his  daughter  that  he  had  not  yet  paid  over 
the  customary  number  of  spear-heads.  ...  In  such 

S4  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  96.  ««  Halkin,  p.  57. 

35  "Folkways,"  p.  169. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  107 


contests  the  contending  parties  vie  with  each  other 
in  volubility,  the  man  who  holds  out  longest  remain- 
ing master  of  the  situation,  and  doubtless  usually 
wins  the  case.  Still  the  prince  has  the  last  say  and 
from  his  decision  there  is  no  appeal." 

The  Monbuttu  have  passed  the  stage  of  revenge 
as  a  process  of  adjusting  wrongs.  Offenders  are 
tried  in  court  and  the  penalty,  fixed  by  custom,  is 
enforced  by  the  government.  For  adultery  the 
penalty  is  death,  but  the  accused  often  settles  the 
case  by  compensation.^^ 

Common  race,  language  and  economic  life,  and 
the  density  of  population,  once  gave  to  the  Monbuttu 
a  great  degree  of  stability,  but  their  governments 
have  now  been  almost  completely  demolished  by  the 
invasion  of  Arabs. 


3T II,  p.  243. 


ssHalkin,  p.  85. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  MONBUTTU  OF  THE  BANANA  ZONE  (cOntiflUed) 

Religious  Life.— The  Monbuttu  religion  does  not 
differ  substantially  from  that  of  the  other  inhabi- 
tants of  the  banana  zone.^  It  is  fundamentally 
fetichism,  with  some  admixture  of  polytheism,  and 
a  slight  coloring  of  Mohammedanism.  The  peo- 
ple live  in  a  world  of  fantastic  spirits,  and  un- 
der the  dominion  of  the  magic  doctor.  There  are 
no  temples  or  priests  connected  with  the  native 
religion.  The  gods  roam  about  and  have  no  settled 
abode.  The  temple  never  develops  except  among 
people  who  live  a  settled  life  and  in  substantially 
built  houses.  When  man  himself  occupies  a  sub- 
stantial dwelling  he  presumes  that  the  gods  need 
one,  and  when  a  home  for  the  gods  is  built  there 
must  be  a  keeper  of  the  house,  or  priest.-  The  ele- 
ment of  fear  is  a  prominent  factor  in  all  of  the  Mon- 
buttu superstitions ;  and  while  it  would  seem  to  evoke 
only  absurdities  and  degrading  abasements,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  is  a  necessary  and  useful 
factor  in  the  evolution  of  intellectual  or  moral  cul- 
ture.   Indeed,  the  value  of  the  fear  emotion  in 

1  Halkin,  pp.  93,  95,  103. 

2  Montesquieu,  "Spirit  of  Laws,"  II,  p.  133. 

108 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  109 


human  nature  can  scarcely  be  estimated.  Of  the 
primitive  man,  McDougall  remarks,  that  **This  in- 
stinct must  have  kept  his  thoughts  at  work  upon 
those  objects  of  his  wonder,  and  especially  upon 
those  which  excited  not  only  wonder  but  fear;  and 
the  meditation  upon  these  fearful  objects  led  to 
theories  explanatory  of  them."  Hence  the  begin- 
ning of  philosophy.^  Fear  is  also  at  the  bottom  of 
custom  and  morals,  enforcing  obedience  to  common 
standards.^  *^In  the  struggle  for  existence,"  says 
McDougall,  '*only  those  societies  survived  which 
were  able  to  evolve  such  a  crust  of  custom,  binding 
men  together,  assimilating  their  actions  to  the  ac- 
cepted standards,  compelling  control  of  the  purely 
egoistic  impulses,  and  exterminating  the  individuals 
incapable  of  such  control.^  .  .  .  And  this  essential 
step  of  social  evolution  was,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
main  produced  by  the  cooperation  of  the  instincts  of 
fear,  curiosity  and  subjection."^ 

A  fact,  however,  overlooked  by  McDougall,  and 
other  psychologists,  is  that  the  instinct  of  fear  is 
even  stronger  among  civilized  than  among  primi- 
tive people,  and  that  it  does  not  diminish  with  civili- 
zation, as  asserted,  for  instance,  by  Giddings  ^ 
and  Buckle.^  In  the  opinion  of  Giddings  fear  is  op- 
posed to  rational  deliberation.    On  the  contrar^^,  is 

3  Page  303. 

*Ross,  "Social  Psychology,"  p.  203. 
5  Page  307. 
«Page  309. 

7  "Elements  of  Sociology,"  p.  228. 

8  "History  of  Civilization  in  England,"  I,  Ch.  II. 


110 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


not  fear  one  of  the  chief  incentives  to  deliberation? 
Among  savages  the  fear  instinct  is  appealed  to  by  so 
few  stimulations  that  its  expression  is  impulsive  and 
violent,  whereas  among  civilized  people  it  is  ap- 
pealed to  by  such  a  vanety  and  multiplicity  of 
stimulations  that  its  expression  is  controlled  and  re- 
fined.   '^An  enlightened  age,''  says  Stiickenberg, 

moving  in  a  larger  mental  realm  than  a  primitive 
one,  may  have  as  much  feeling,  or  even  more,  though 
mostly  different  in  kind."  ^  The  civilized  man's  ap- 
prehension about  his  health,  sweetheart,  property, 
social  standing,  or  political  fortune,  is  at  the  bottom 
of  all  of  his  deliberations.  Not  only  is  fear  an  in- 
stinct behind  all  of  our  practical  thinking,  but  it  is 
an  essential  element  in  the  creation  and  enjoyment 
of  grandeur  in  all  works  of  art.^^ 

Ceremonial  Life. — Public  and  private  ceremonies 
are  more  elaborate  than  among  the  Niam-Niam. 
This  is  explained  by  the  more  dense  population,  and 
the  more  absolute  form  of  the  governments.  Fixed 
forms  and  ceremonies  are  prescribed  for  eating, 
hunting,  cultivating  the  soil,  and  manufacturing. 
There  is  a  ceremony  of  initiation  into  manhood, 
and  a  ceremonial  dance  connected  with  marriage.^^ 
The  ordinary  form  of  salutation,  says  Schweinfurth, 

consists  in  holding  out  the  right  hand  and  saying, 
*Gassegg}%'  and  at  the  same  time  cracking  the  joints 
of  the  middle  fingers."    Ceremonies  of  State  are 

»  "Sociology,"  I,  p.  363. 

10  Burke,  ^'Essay  on  the  Sublime  and  the  Beautiful." 
iiHalkin,  p.  83. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  111 


highly  developed,  and  great  dances  are  a  popular 
means  of  stirring  up  the  war  spirit.^^  State  dress 
corresponds  in  elaboration  to  State  ceremony. 
King  Munza,  says  Schweinfurth,  adorns  his  **head 
in  a  skin  of  a  great  black  babboon,  giving  him  the 
appearance  of  wearing  a  grenadier's  bearskin;  the 
peak  of  this  was  dressed  up  with  a  plume  of  wav- 
ing feathers.  Hanging  from  his  arms  were  the  tails 
of  genets,  and  his  wrists  were  encircled  by  great 
bundles  of  tails  of  the  guinea  hog,  a  thick  apron, 
composed  of  the  tails  of  a  variety  of  animals,  was 
fastened  around  his  loins,  a  number  of  rings  rattled 
upon  his  naked  legs." 

The  Monbuttu  follow  the  custom,  prevalent  among 
the  ancient  Babylonians,  of  placing  food  and  drink 
upon  the  graves  of  their  dead.^* 

-ffisthetic  Life. — The  artistic  faculty  of  the  Mon- 
buttu seems  to  be  of  a  high  order.^^  This  is  con- 
spicuous in  their  propensity  to  decorate  and  adorn 
all  of  their  handiwork.  They  even  presume  to  im- 
prove upon  their  physiognomy  by  several  artful 
modifications;  for  instance  the  common  practice  of 
altering  the  form  of  their  teeth;  the  boring  of  the 
inner  muscle  of  the  ear,  into  which  they  insert  a  bar 
of  copper  about  the  size  of  a  cigar;  the  tattooing  of 
figures  upon  their  breasts,  backs  and  shoulders.^* 
They  are  more  successful,  however,  in  beautifying 
their  utensils,  weapons,  wicker,  earthen,  and  iron- 


12  Halkin,  p.  109. 

13  n,  p.  75. 

1*  Halkin,  p.  97. 


15  Junker,  II,  p.  233. 

16  Schweinfurth,  II,  pp.  105,  106. 


112  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


work,  all  of  which  strikes  the  attention  of  the  traveler 
by  the  excellence  of  the  designs.  They  are  good 
sculptors  and  boat-builders.^^  Both  sexes  wear 
their  hair  in  a  long  cylindrical  tuft  in  a  backward 
slanting  direction.  On  top  of  this  the  men  wear  a 
straw  hat.^^  The  clothing  of  the  people  consists  of 
bark-cloth  made  from  the  fig  tree.^^  Women,  how- 
ever, do  not  wear  any  dress  until  married.^^ 

Dancing  is  an  accomplishment  greatly  admired 
by  the  commonalty,  and  even  practiced  by  the  king. 
Schweinfurth  who  saw  king  Munza  dancing  said 
that  his  *^arms  dashed  themselves  furiously  in 
every  direction,  though  always  marking  time  to  the 
music,  whilst  his  legs  exhibited  all  the  contortions 
of  an  acrobat^s,  being  at  one  moment  stretched  out 
horizontally  to  the  ground,  and  at  the  next  pointed 
upward  and  elevated  in  the  air.'^^^ 

The  people  also  show  great  fondness  for  singing. 
They  have  a  national  war-song  and  many  court  bal- 
lads.^2  Most  of  their  songs,  as  those  of  the  Bush- 
men, have  a  tinge  of  melancholy. The  chief  musi- 
cal instruments  are  the  drum  and  trumpet.^*  These 
instruments  seem  to  predominate  everywhere  among 
people  who  are  violently  excited  by  the  fear  instinct. 

i7/6i(f.,  II,  p.  233;  Ratzel,  III,  p.  56;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al., 
p.  470. 

18  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  106. 
iQlhid.,  II,  p.  88. 
zoHalkin,  p.  45. 
21 II,  p.  75. 

22Halkin,  p.  Ill;  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  97. 

23HaIkin,  p.  111. 

24  Schweinfurth,  II,  pp.  97,  113. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  113 


Certainly  no  other  instruments  are  so  well  calculated 
to  arouse  a  disturbing  emotion.  Stringed  instru- 
ments, on  the  other  hand,  seem  to  be  associated  with 
people  who  are  rather  mildly  agitated  by  fear,  and 
live  in  a  continuous  mood  of  expansion  and  com- 
plaisance. The  Monbuttu  have  no  stringed  instru- 
ments.^^ Painting  and  sculpture  seem  to  be  limited 
to  some  rude  representations  of  animals  upon  the 
walls  of  the  houses,  and  the  carving  of  wooden  uten- 
sils, furniture,  masks  and  idols.-^  The  wood  carv- 
ing excites  the  admiration  of  travelers. 

Psychological  Characteristics. — The  Monbuttu 
have  smaller  crania  than  the  Niam-Niam,  and  less 
dolichocephaly.^"^  They  should  therefore  have  less 
intelligence,  according  to  the  theory  of  Woodruff 
mentioned  in  chapter  VI. 

The  Monbuttu  are  actuated  strongly  by  the  in- 
stinct of  flight.  This  instinct  is  usually  dominant 
in  an  environment  that  is  antagonistic  and  terrify- 
ing. Where  nature  manifests  herself  in  outbursts 
of  thunder  and  lightning,  floods,  devastating  winds, 
and  surrounds  man  with  dangerous  beasts,  poison- 
ous reptiles  and  insects,  and  stagnant  waters  that 
breed  much  sickness — man  is  terrified,  cowed  and 
whipped;  and  instead  of  seeking  to  overcome  na- 
ture he  is  inclined  to  flee  from  it.  His  predominant 
emotion  is  fear,  and  this  excites  his  imagination 
and  peoples  the  universe  with  malignant  spirits, 

25  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  117. 
26Halkm,  pp.  53,  117. 

27  Shrubsall,  "Notes  on  Crania,"  pp.  256,  257. 


114  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


ghosts,  demons  and  gods.  Man  here  becomes  en- 
grossed in  superstitions,  and  is  under  the  sway  of 
the  magic  doctor.  An  examination  of  the  people- 
and  conditions  in  Africa  reveals  the  fact  that  the 
most  terrified  and  superstitious  tribes  are  found  in 
the  regions  where  nature  is  most  violent  and  an- 
tagonistic, and  that  where  nature  is  manifested  in 
a  milder  form  the  people  are  more  self-assertive  and 
less  superstitious. 

The  instinct  of  self-abasement  is  very  marked 
among  the  Monbuttu  and  also  among  other  tribes 
of  the  banana  zone,  and  gradually  merges  into  self- 
assertion  as  we  go  north  and  south  from  the  equa- 
tor. This  instinct  is  close  kin  to  that  of  flight  but 
is  a  milder  manifestation  of  the  impulse  to  with- 
draw from  danger  or  things  disagreeable.  It  dis- 
courages man  and  tempts  him  to  crouch  rather  than 
flee.  It  awakens  the  emotion  of  humility  rather 
than  fear.  It  results  from  a  comparison  of  man's 
self  with  the  forces  that  surround  him  in  such  a 
way  that  he  himself  is  made  to  appear  very  insig- 
nificant. The  people  of  the  banana  zone,  seeing 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  powerful  and  antag- 
onistic forces  of  nature  against  which  they  are  un- 
able to  cope,  feel  a  deep  sense  of  inferiority,  while 
in  the  agricultural  and  cattle  zones,  where  the  forces 
of  nature  are  less  violent,  man  is  more  inclined  to 
hold  up  his  head,  and  grapple  with  opposition.  This 
feeling  of  self-abasement  in  proper  subordination 
is  a  necessary  and  valuable  characteristic  of  all 
races,  for  the  reason  that  it  renders  them  submissive 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  115 


to  control,  and  implants  in  them  a  reverence  for 
authority  which  conduces  to  a  higher  development 
of  character,  and  culminates  in  that  noble  sense  of 
humility  which  is  the  highest  attribute  of  religion. 
The  humility  that  the  highest  type  of  man  feels  is 
the  result  of  comparing  himself  with  some  exalted 
ideal. 

The  instinct  of  pugnacity  is  weak  among  the  Mon- 
buttu  as  it  is  directly  opposed  to  the  instincts  of 
flight  and  self-abasement.  The  instinct  of  repul- 
sion is,  however,  strongly  marked.  It  is  a  greatly 
inferior  instinct  to  that  of  pugnacity,  as  it  may 
exist  in  an  individual  who  has  not  the  courage  to 
act  aggressively.  It  is  characteristic  of  people  who 
are  timid  and  live  in  small  isolated  groups.  It  is 
associated  with  fear,^^  suspicion  and  distrust,  and 
is  manifested  in  hostility  to  strangers,  or  even  neigh- 
bors,^^  or  to  any  one  who  may  offer  an  affront.  In- 
stead of  meeting  opposition  boldly  and  openly,  the 
repulsive  instinct  rather  incites  indirect  methods  of 
attack  without  the  risk  of  injury  to  self.  For  ex- 
ample, the  people  of  the  banana  zone  generally  are 
much  given  to  treachery  and  the  use  of  poison.  The 
tribes  poison  their  arrows  and  attack  from  ambush. 
They  place  poisoned  instruments  in  footpaths  and  in 
streams  of  water  to  catch  the  foot  of  the  unwary 
stranger;  and  the  poisoning  of  one  individual  of  a 
tribe,  or  of  a  family,  by  another  is  a  common  means 
of  squaring  a  grudge. 

The  instinct  of  repulsion  may  be  traced  very  far 

28  Bain,  p.  184.  29  Halkin,  p.  27. 


116 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


back  in  organic  evolution.  *^The  earliest  move- 
ments of  animal  life,''  says  Thomas,  *  involve,  in 
the  rejection  of  stimulations  vitally  bad,  an  attri- 
bute which  is  the  analogue  of  prejudice.  .  .  .  The 
micro-organism  will  approach  a  particle  of  food 
placed  in  the  water  and  shun  a  particle  of  poison.'' 
Among  men  the  feeling  of  repulsion  often  prompts  an 
impulsive  attack  upon  any  object  that  may  happen 
to  offend.  Says  Montaigne,  **Who  has  not  seen 
peevish  gamesters  tear  the  cards  with  their  teeth, 
swallow  the  dice  in  revenge  for  the  loss  of  their 
money?  Xerxes  whipped  the  sea  and  wrote  a  chal- 
lenge to  Mount  Athos  .  .  .  and  Caligula  demolished 
a  beautiful  palace  for  the  discomfort  his  mother  had 
once  had  there."  Instincts  or  motor  reactions,  such 
as  that  of  repulsion,  are  necessary  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  species,  and  they  survive  and  sometimes 
manifest  themselves  in  a  most  ludicrous  fashion. 
^*They  are  slowly  formed,"  says  Patten,  *^and  still 
more  slowly  changed.  Many  of  them  were  created 
ages  ago  under  conditions  unlike  those  that  now  ex- 
ist. Once  formed  they  have  continued  through  a  long 
series  of  environments,  because  the  new  condi- 
tions contained  nothing  to  interfere  with  their 
acti\dty.  They  remain  unmodified  or  are  modified 
in  ways  that  make  them  stand  out  even  more 
clearly."  The  repulsive  nature  of  the  Monbuttu, 
as  of  the  Chinese,  is  heightened  by  the  self-sufii- 
ciency  of  isolation.    It  might  have  a  valuable  so- 

30  "Sex  and  Society,"  p.  103. 

31  "The  Development  of  English  Thought,"  New  York,  1899,  p.  12. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  117 


cializing  effect  if  conditions  permitted  it  to  be 
carried  over  into  the  social  life  and  to  be  spent 
upon  whatever  is  unjust,  or  harmful  to  the 
general  good.  Properly  directed  repulsion  is  a 
necessary  element  in  aggressive  righteousness.^ ^ 
*^The  mass  of  mankind/'  says  Cooley,  **are  slug- 
gish and  need  some  resentment  as  a  stimulant.  .  .  . 
Surround  a  man  with  soothing,  flattering  circum- 
stances, and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  will  fail  to 
do  anything  worthy,  but  will  lapse  into  some  form 
of  sensualism  or  dilettanteism.  There  is  no  tonic, 
to  a  nature  substantial  enough  to  bear  it,  like  cha- 
grin— *  erquickender  Verdruss,'  as  Goethe  says. 
Life  without  opposition  is  Capua.  No  matter  what 
the  part  one  is  fitted  to  play  in  it,  he  can  make  prog- 
ress in  his  path  only  by  a  vigorous  assault  upon  the 
obstacles,  and  to  be  vigorous  the  assault  must  be 
supported  by  passion  of  some  sort.  With  most  of 
us  the  requisite  intensity  of  passion  is  not  forth- 
coming without  an  element  of  resentment;  and  com- 
mon sense  and  careful  observation  will,  I  believe, 
confirm  the  opinion  that  few  people  who  amount  to 
much  are  without  a  good  capacity  for  hostile  feel- 
ing, upon  which  they  draw  freely  when  they  need 
M33  <<How  can  a  man  rightly  care  for  anything 
without  in  some  way  resenting  attacks  upon  itV^ 
Thus  it  is  that  the  basest  of  savage  instincts  are 
transformed  into  virtues,  just  as  the  carrion  of 
which  Emerson  speaks  converts  itself  into  grass 

32  Blackmar,  F.  W.,  "Elements  of  Sociology,"  p.  263. 
«s  "Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order,"  p.  241. 


118 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


and  flower.  Among  the  Monbnttu,  however,  the  in- 
stinct of  repulsion  is  spent  blindly  and  yields 
nothing  valuable. 

The  Monbuttu  are  remarkably  gregarious.  They 
live  in  large  groups,  facilitated  by  the  abundance 
of  vegetable  food,  and  the  homogeneity  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  gregarious  instinct,  by  the  way,  like 
that  of  repulsion,  is  one  of  very  great  social  im- 
portance, especially  in  primitive  societies.  Of  its 
value  McDougall  remarks  that,  ^^in  early  times  when 
population  was  scanty  it  must  have  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  social  evolution  by  keeping  men 
together  and  thereby  occasioning  the  need  for  so- 
cial laws  and  institutions  as  well  as  by  providing 
the  conditions  of  aggregation  in  which  alone  the 
higher  evolution  of  the  social  attributes  was  pos- 
sible; but  that  in  highly  civilized  societies  its 
functions  are  less  important,  because  the  density  of 
population  ensures  a  sufficient  aggregation  of  the 
people ;  and  that  facilities  for  aggregation  being  so 
greatly  increased  among  modern  nations,  its  direct 
operation  is  apt  to  produce  anomalous  and  even 
injurious  social  results."  This  instinct,  no  doubt, 
often  produces  bad  results  among  both  savage 
and  civilized  people.  For  example,  the  Negro 
has  a  tendency  everywhere  to  follow  the  crowd, 
and  in  his  own  land  never  builds  a  house  on 
a  farm  and  lives  to  himself  as  is  common  among 
the  farmers  of  Europe  and  America.  The  power  of 
isolation  is  a  late  development  of  evolution  and  be- 

34  Page  301. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  119 


longs  only  to  the  most  advanced  races.  Even  tlie 
Italian  and  Teutonic  races  differ  much  in  that  re- 
spect. There  is,  however,  no  reason  for  supposing 
that  the  gregarious  instinct  has  lost  its  importance 
for  the  civilized  man.  It  is  shown  in  the  grouping 
of  people  into  clubs,  societies,  social  sets  and  schools 
of  thought.  Both  Giddings  and  McDougall  take  the 
view  that  the  satisfaction  of  this  instinct  is  in  pro- 
portion to  the  degree  of  resemblance  or  likeness  of 
the  individuals.^^  There  are  reasons  for  thinking, 
on  the  contrary,  that  people  are  attracted  to  each 
other  rather  by  unlikeness  than  likeness.  If  two 
people  were  exactly  alike  in  all  particulars  they 
would  have  absolutely  no  interest  in  each  other.  It 
is  a  law  of  the  chemical  and  biological  world  that  un- 
Kkes  and  contrasts  attract.  The  interest  which  one 
individual  finds  in  another  is  always  something  in 
the  way  of  novelty  or  contrast;  a  conflict  of  ideas 
and  emotions,  and  these  act  as  stimulations.^* 
The  fact  that  a  too  great  contrast  repels  has  led  to 
the  mistaken  supposition  that  it  is  likeness  that  at- 
tracts. The  so-called  gregarious  instinct,  there- 
fore, may  be  nothing  more  than  an  expression  of 
some  other  and  more  fundamental  spring  of  action. 
Very  probably  it  is  a  combination  of  the  instinct  of 
curiosity,  and  the  instinct  of  fear.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  instinct  of  fear  was  a  chief  motive 
for  the  gregarious  tendencies  in  the  Middle  Ages.^^ 

35  Giddings,  "Inductive  Sociology,"  Ch.  Ill;  McDougall,  pp.  299, 
300. 

36  StUckenberg,  I,  p.  85.       37  Sumner,  "Folkways,"  pp.  214,  216. 


120  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


The  Monbuttu  are  extremely  self-sufficient  and 
conservative,  resulting  from  their  isolation.  They 
have  nothing  within  or  without  to  encourage  inno- 
vations. A  similar  isolation  produces  the  same 
characteristic  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  oases  of 
Asia.^^ 

The  Monbuttu  have  a  strong  instinct  of  curiosity 
if  we  may  judge  from  their  fondness  for  hunting. 
The  hunting  life  seems  to  have  an  educative  effect 
upon  this  instinct,  and  civilized  people  have  to 
thank  the  hunting  stage  of  their  ancestry  for  its 
cultivation.  It  may  be  seen  behind  every  mechan- 
ical invention  and  every  discovery  in  science,  art 
and  philosophy.  The  Aryan  peoples,  who  have 
gone  through  a  long  hunting  period,  have  carried 
over  this  instinct  into  their  economic,  political  and 
moral  realms  and  built  upon  it  a  great  and  progress- 
ive civilization,  while  the  Chinese,  who  have  lacked 
the  hunting  stage  in  their  history,  have  not  de- 
veloped the  impulse  to  investigate,  and  hence  have 
remained  for  thousands  of  years  in  a  condition  of 
stagnation.  The  superiority  of  the  Japanese  over 
the  Chinese  is  primarily  due  to  their  hunting  ex- 
perience in  passing  through  Corea  and  the  island  of 
Nippon.  The  reason  that  this  instinct  has  not  been 
of  greater  advantage  to  the  Negroes  of  Central 
Africa  is  the  antagonism  of  the  climate  which  has 
discouraged  energy  and  prevented  the  development 
of  a  differentiated  social  life  in  which  the  instinct 
could  be  employed  along  productive  lines.    In  the 

38  Huntington,  p.  140. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  121 


absence  of  opportunity  to  employ  it  in  practical  life 
the  people  tend  to  gratify  it  by  artificial  stimula- 
tion, i.  e.,  by  gambling.  In  seasons  when  the  game 
is  scarce  the  men  spend  much  time  in  gambling. 
This  manifests  the  instinct  in  its  lowest  form,  for 
the  reason  that  it  furnishes  the  stimulation  of  sur- 
prise and  excitement  without  the  risk  of  serious 
discomfort.  Gambling  and  games  of  chance  are 
most  common  in  regions  where  the  climate  or  other 
conditions  do  not  invite  man  into  the  fields  of  in- 
dustrial activity.  The  instinct  of  curiosity  then 
seeks  an  artificial  outlet.  In  the  agricultural  and 
pastoral  regions  of  Africa  this  instinct  has  a  chance 
to  be  carried  over  somewhat  into  the  industrial  and 
social  life  and  is  less  expended  in  gambling.  The 
hunting  or  other  instinct  is  a  safe  guide  and*  tends 
always  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  group  until 
reason  begins  to  replace  it.  Then  man  is  liable  to 
act  in  a  thousand  ways  injurious  to  society  and  is 
prevented  from  destroying  it  only  through  the  de- 
velopment of  group  sentiment.^^ 

The  natives  of  this  zone  are  said  to  be  mentally 
and  physically  lazy.  For  this  trait  two  explana- 
tions may  be  offered.  One  is  the  oppressive  cli- 
mate, and  the  other  a  lack  of  stimulating  interests.^^ 
Even  tropical  people  show  an  astonishing  amount 
of  energy  when  their  appetites  or  passions  are 
strongly  appealed  to.  This  is  shown  in  their  dances, 
fighting,  hunting,  and  even  in  their  laborious  hair- 

39  Ward,  Lester  F.,  p.  133. 

40  Buckle,  I,  Ch.  II. 


122 


THE  NEGRO  EACES 


dressing.  Primitive  people,''  says  Sumner,  "use 
great  patience  and  perseverance  when  they  expect 
to  accomplish  something  of  great  importance  to  their 
interests.  The  same  is  true  if  they  expect  to  gratify 
their  vanity." 

The  Monbuttu  show  less  self-control,  less  fore- 
sight, and  more  abandonment  to  passion  and  impulse 
than  the  Niam-Niam.  They  approximate  closely  to 
the  mental  type  which  Giddings  calls  the  idio-emo- 
tional.^^  Their  predominant  mood  is  that  of  agita- 
tion due  to  feelings  of  weariness,  anxiety  and  fear.^^ 
Nevertheless  they  are  superior  to  the  Negro  of  West 
Africa  and  even  excel  the  Niam-Niam  in  oratorical 
powers  "which  in  parliamentary  and  judicial  pro- 
ceedings are  developed  to  a  perfectly  amazing  degree 
of  fluency. ' '  They  have  a  wide  acquaintance  with 
nature  and  human  nature,  but  little  knowledge  of 
other  kinds.  They  know  nothing  of  astronomy,  and 
can  count  only  up  to  fifty  using  the  fingers  as  a 
basis.^^ 

Among  members  of  the  same  group  of  Monbut- 
tus  there  are  not  found,  to  the  same  extent,  those 
primary  virtues  of  kindness,  mutual  helpfulness 
and  justice,  so  characteristic  of  other  groups.  A 
reason,  perhaps,  is  that  the  aggregation  of  the  peo- 

41  Pa^  133. 

42  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  87. 

43  Williams,  p.  744.  Their  mood  might  be  classified  according  to 
Ribot  as  the  humble-sensitive,  pp.  388,  394. 

44  Junker,  II,  p.  233. 

45  Thid.,  p.  242. 
48Halkin,  p.  119. 


THE  BANANA  ZONE  123 


pie  has  been  more  the  result  of  the  gregarious  in- 
stinct than  of  war  or  cooperation;  and  hence  the 
socializing  effect  of  acting  in  concert  has  been  very 
slight.  The  attitude  of  the  ruling  class  towards 
the  subject  class  is  that  of  extreme  coldness.  The 
latter  is  regarded  in  the  light  of  strangers.  Upon 
any  pretext  a  subject  is  liable  to  be  seized,  killed 
and  eaten. 

Before  concluding  the  study  of  this  last  branch  of 
the  Galla  type  of  Negro,  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
quote  what  Verner  says  by  way  of  contrasting  all 
of  the  darker  and  lighter  populations  of  Africa. 
*^The  brighter-colored  Africans  are  also  generally 
more  intelligent,  and  of  more  sensitive  nervous  or- 
ganism, less  emotional  but  more  vivacious,  and  much 
more  apt  to  cherish  resentment.  They  are  quicker 
in  motion,  and  they  seem  to  have  a  far  livelier  sense 
of  humor ;  they  are  also  more  sensitive  to  pain  and 
less  capable  of  prolonged  endurance  or  priva- 
tion.'' 

47  Page  541. 


PAET  II 
THE  BANTUS 


CHAPTEE  XII 


THE  BANTUS  OF  THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE 

General  Description  of  the  Zone. — In  order  to  com- 
prehend the  populations  of  this  zone  it  is  neces- 
sary to  divide  it  into  an  eastern  and  western  par- 
tition. The  western  partition  includes  the  terri- 
tory of  some  of  the  Nigritian  peoples  discussed  in 
Volume  I  of  this  series;  and  also  includes  a  large 
group  of  Bantus  living  in  the  relatively  low 
grounds  between  Central  Africa  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  The  eastern  partition  includes,  besides  the 
territory  of  the  Monbuttu,  described  in  Chapter  X, 
the  regions  of  the  Upper  Congo,  the  western  borders 
of  lakes  Albert  Nyanza,  and  Victoria,  about  one- 
half  the  western  borders  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and 
the  countries  intervening. 

The  Bantus  now  under  consideration  are  those 
belonging  to  this  eastern  division.  The  contour  of 
this  region  is  very  irregular.  Upon  the  whole  it 
is  elevated  and  characterized  by  many  broad  table- 
lands with  interspersed  valleys.  The  rainfall  is 
heavy,  the  streams  copious  and  numerous,  and  the 
forests  for  the  most  part  extensive,  but  not  dense  as 
in  the  lower  levels.    There  are  frequent  and  danger- 

124 


THE  EASTERN  BAN"ANA  ZONE  125 


ous  tliunderstorms.^  The  country  of  Uganda  (or 
Buganda)  which  is  the  chief  point  of  interest  in 
this  territory,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  parts  of 
the  world.  It  has  mountain  peaks  forever  snow- 
capped.2  **Its  groves  of  banana  trees,  that  every- 
where abound,  adorn  the  verdant  landscape  on  hill 
and  dale/'^  It  consists  of  rolling  green  downs 
rising  in  places  almost  into  mountains,  and  every 
valley  in  between  is  a  marsh."*  The  temperature 
averages  about  70°  Fr.,  rising  to  97%''  in  the  day 
and  falling  to  50°  at  night.^ 

The  banana  and  plantain  grow  in  great  abun- 
dance.^ In  Karagwe  the  plantain  is  so  common  that 
nothing  is  said  if  a  stranger  is  seen  plucking  a  bunch 
from  a  tree."^  The  rubber  tree  and  fig  tree  are  also 
common,  and  of  great  value  to  the  inhabitants.  The 
country  was  once  well  supplied  with  big  game,  but 
this  has  been  in  a  large  measure  killed  out.  There 
remain,  however,  the  lion,  leopard,  wild  cat,  monkey 
and  many  species  of  brilliant  colored  birds.^  The 
python  and  the  deadly  puff-adder  lurk  in  the  path  of 
the  traveler,  and  mosquitoes  pursue  you  whether  you 
travel  or  not.^ 

1  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  119. 

2  Goodrich,  p.  154. 

3  Long,  p.  125. 

4  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  85. 

8  Tucker,  I,  p.  93 ;  Grant,  p.  203. 

«  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  85;  Grant,  p.  198. 
7  Grant,  p.  143. 

«  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  114. 

9  Ibid.,  pp.  87,  88,  94. 


126  THE  NEGBO  EACES 

The  Inhabitants. — The  inhabitants  of  this  part  of 
the  banana  zone  are  the  Waganda  (or  Uganda),  the 
Manyuema,  Euandas  and  the  Kinyoro-speaking  peo- 
ples of  Mpororo,  Nkole,  Karagwe,  etc.^^  They  be- 
long to  the  great  Bantu  race  which  occupies  almost 
the  whole  region  of  Central  and  Southern  Africa. 
The  Bantu  represent  a  great  variety  of  types^  due  to 
mixture  with  the  Pygmies,  Bushmen  and  Hottentots 
of  the  south  and  the  Galla  peoples  of  the  east.^^ 
Nevertheless,  they  have  common  characteristics  that 
clearly  distinguish  them  from  the  other  branches  of 
the  Negro  stock.  They  are  darker  than  the  Galla, 
not  so  tall  as  the  Nigritian,  nor  so  dolichocephalic, 
prognathous,  or  flat  nosed.^^  The  Waganda  are 
lighter  in  color  than  the  average  Bantu  on  account 
chiefly  of  the  admixture  of  Bahima  blood. The 
elevation  of  the  country  may  have  something  to  do 
with  the  lighter  color.  In  Uganda  there  may  be  dis- 
tinguished four  different  types  of  Negroes  besides 
the  Bantu  proper.  These  are  the  Pygmies,  The 
Nile  Negro,  The  Masai  and  the  Hamite.  The  Wa- 
ganda are  taller  than  their  neighbors.^*  Livingstone 
says  that  the  Manyuema  men  have  a  superior  shape 

10  In  the  Bantu  language  Mu  mo  m  mean  man.  Example, 
Muganda— Ganda  man.  Ba  wa  a  ma  mean  men.  Example,  Baganda= 
Ganda  men.  Ki  tshi  si  mean  language.  Example,  Ki  swahili= 
Swahili  language.  Bu  U  mean  country.  Example,  Buganda— Ganda 
country. 

11  Ratzel,  II,  p.  513;  Johnston,  ^'George  Grenfell  ajid  the  Congo," 
II,  p.  511. 

izDeniker,  p.  458. 

13  Tucker,  I,  p.  93. 

14  Johnston,  "Ugajida  Protectorate,"  p.  473. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  127 


of  head  and  physical  form,  and  that  many  of  the 
women  are  light  colored  and  pretty.^*^  The  Pygmies 
belong  to  the  Negrito  type  which  has  been  fully  dis- 
cussed in  Volume  I  of  this  series. 

Economic  Life. — The  chief  food  of  the  people  is,  of 
course,  the  banana  and  plantain,^^  supplemented  by 
the  proceeds  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and  by  the  cul- 
tivation of  small  patches  of  ground,  yielding  pump- 
kins, tobacco,  sweet  potatoes,  sugar-cane,  millet,  sesa- 
mum,  etc.,  and  by  keeping  a  few  domestic  animals, 
as  the  goat,  cow,  and  chicken.^^  The  latter  species 
reached  Africa  first  through  Egypt  at  the  time  of  the 
Persian  occupation  about  450  B.  C.^^  Cattle  do  not 
flourish  in  this  zone,  and  are  found  only  upon  the 
highlands.^^ 

The  cessation  of  the  slave  trade,  and  abolition  of 
slavery  in  many  districts,  have  tended  to  increase 
the  interest  in  agriculture.^^  **The  peasants,''  says 
Tucker,  '*live  in  the  midst  of  the  plantain  gardens 
and  have  merely  a  few  feet  of  cleared  space  in  front 
of  their  huts."^^  The  people  seldom  eat  animal 
flesh,^^  but  human  flesh  is  a  coveted  article  of  food 

14a  Last  Journals,  1.  p.  371. 

15  Burton,  II,  58;  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  427; 
Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  402 ;  Tucker,  I,  pp.  19, 
92;  Stuhlmann,  p.  180;  Long,  p.  125;  Weiss,  p.  325;  Livingstone, 
"Last  Journals,"  II,  p.  34. 

16  Long,  p.  125 ;  Burton,  pp.  68,  196. 

17  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  480. 

18  Grant,  p.  167. 

19  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  453. 

20  1,  p.  96. 

21  Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  p.  550. 


128  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


in  many  localities.^^  Cannibalism  is  induced  partly 
by  lack  of  employment  for  war-captives  and  partly, 
as  Sumner  thinks,  by  defects  of  the  food  supply.''  " 
Stanley,  Schweinfurth  and  other  explorers  have 
complained  of  scarcity  of  meat  in  Central  Africa.^* 
Weismann  writes  that  **our  people  (his  porters), 
since  the  passage  of  the  Sankuri,  therefore  for  six 
weeks,  have  eaten  no  meat  except  caterpillars,  grass- 
hoppers and  similar  small  creatures.''  The  univer- 
sal drink  is  a  banana  wine  which  the  natives  drink 
out  of  the  corner  of  their  cow-skin  coverings.-^  The 
banana  not  only  serv^es  as  the  basis  of  alimentation 
but  also  as  the  material  for  nearly  all  industries.  It 
furnishes  thatch  for  the  houses,  fronds  for  the  ves- 
sels, leaves  for  tablecloths  and  for  wrappers,  stems 
for  fences  and  rollers,  fiber  for  cord,  and  stalk  to 
make  shields  for  soldiers  and  sun-hats  for  fisher- 
men.-^ 

Among  the  articles  of  manufacture  in  Uganda  are 
soap,  plates,  dishes,  napkins,  bark-cloth,  shawls, 
skin-cloaks,  mats,  baskets,  knives,  shields,  boats, 
drums,  etc.^^  The  natives  are  fine  craftsmen.^® 
Local  trade  is  carried  on  at  market  places  and  on 

22Stuhlmann.  p.  181;  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II, 
pp.  156,  241,  338. 

23  "Folkways,"  p.  329. 

2*  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  p.  152. 

25  Grant,  p.  234. 

26  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  414. 

27  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  101;  Grant,  pp.  159,  233; 
Long,  pp.  125,  126. 

28  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  410;  Long,  p.  127. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  129 


fixed  days.  Communication  and  transportation  are 
difficult  in  many  places  on  account  of  the  high  grass 
which  cannot  be  crossed  without  the  use  of  a  knife.^^ 
The  ordinary  money  consists  of  copper,  shells  and 
European  goods.^^  The  foreign  trade,  L  e.,  that 
between  Uganda  and  the  East  Coast,  was  for- 
merly carried  on  by  means  of  porters.  *'0f  the 
natural  products  of  the  equatorial  regions,*'  says 
Grant,  ^^sucli  as  slaves,  ivory,  salt,  copper,  iron, 
bark-cloth,  coffee  and  sugar-cane,  Karagwe  scarcely 
yields  any,  but  it  is  a  great  depot  for  trade.'*  The 
Arabs  and  coast  men  bring  up  beads,  cloth  and 
brass-wire,  and  meet  people  of  all  the  nations 
around  and  trade  with  them  for  ivory  and  slaves.^^ 
In  recent  years  the  slave  trade  has  ceased,  and  the 
ivory  trade  almost  so,  both  finding  substitutes  in 
rubber,  skins  and  hides.  The  building  of  the  Uganda 
railroad  to  the  coast  has  almost  entirely  destroyed 
the  old  caravan  routes.  Steamboats  on  Lake  Vic- 
toria run  in  connection  with  the  trains  from  the 
coast.^^  Also  boats  ply  on  the  Victoria  Nile  and 
on  Lake  Albert  Nyanza. 

The  division  of  labor  among  the  "Waganda  does 
not  throw  so  much  work  upon  the  women  as  else- 
where in  this  zone.  The  men  build  and  repair  the 
houses,  make  the  bark-cloth,  knives,  baskets,  pot- 
tery, shields,  and  do  the  tanning.^^ 


29  Long,  p.  152;  Haha,  p.  127. 

30  Long,  p.  127. 
SI  Page  158. 


32  Goodrich,  p.  155. 

33  Tucker,  I,  p.  95. 


130  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Family  Life. — ^Wives  are  obtained  usually  by  pur- 
chase, though  capture  of  women  is  a  common  ac- 
companiment of  war.  In  the  ordinary  course,  the 
suitor  makes  his  purchase  of  a  wife  in  the  form  of 
presents  to  the  father,  sometimes  of  considerable 
value.^*  Stulilmann  says  that  a  lover  sends  to  his 
sweetheart  a  load  of  wood  instead  of  a  bouquet.  If 
this  is  acceptable  he  later  sends  to  her  father  a  goat, 
two  cows  and  two  chickens.^^  The  bride-price  in 
Mpororo  is  from  ten  to  thirty  goats.^^  It  used  to 
be  common  in  German  East  Africa  for  the  white 
soldiers  to  buy  native  girls  as  temporary  wives  at 
each  camp.^^  Virginity  before  marriage  is  esteemed 
a  virtue  but  not  generally  preserved.  The  women 
of  Uganda  are  all  modest  as  to  dress.^^  In  some 
districts  sexual  morals  are  loose,  and  intercourse  be- 
fore marriage  frequent.^^  Polygamy  is  the  prevail- 
ing for.m  of  the  family.  This  is  induced  by  the  fre- 
quency of  war  which  kills  off  the  men,  and  gives  to 
the  women  a  preponderance  in  numbers.^^  The  pro- 
portion of  the  sexes  is  seven  women  to  one  man.'*^ 
The  king  of  Uganda  used  to  have  7,000  wives.^^  The 
husband,  instead  of  going  to  live  with  his  bride,  takes 

34  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  687. 

35  Page  183. 

36  Weiss,  p.  328. 

37  Schweinitz,  p.  186. 

38  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  408. 

39  Stuhlmann,  p.  183. 

40  Goodrich,  p.  224;  Stuhlmann,  p.  171. 

41  Ratzel,  III,  p.  257. 
42/6id,  p.  184. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  131 


her  to  his  home  which  he  builds  assisted  by  friends.*^ 
The  house  is  generally  bee-hive  shaped,  made  of 
timber,  reeds  and  grass.*^  In  order  to  exclude  the 
wind  and  prying  eyes  it  has  no  windows.^ ^  The  in- 
terior has  a  partition  to  give  privacy  to  the  occu- 
pants of  the  rear  room.*^  The  furniture  consists  of 
a  carved  stool,  some  pots,  a  few  wicker  or  grass 
basins.  The  walls  are  ornamented  with  bark-cloth, 
hoes,  pipe-stems,  charms,  etc.^^  The  upper-class 
houses  have  highly  dressed  skins  and  beautiful  mats 
on  the  floor.^^  The  meals  are  served  in  the  hut  upon 
banana  leaves.^^  After  the  meal  the  members  of  the 
family  wash  their  hands  with  the  juicy  skin  of  a 
banana  stem.^^  The  women,  by  the  way,  are  said 
to  be  excellent  cooks.^^ 

Here,  as  elsewhere  in  Africa,  the  women  are  the 
chief  supporters  of  the  family.  They  gather  the 
fruits,  cultivate  the  fields,  and  do  nearly  all  of  the 
labor  connected  with  the  food-supply.  They  work 
in  the  garden  while  the  men  snooze  and  smoke.^^ 
"Women  seem  to  be  less  respected  here  than  among 
the  Monbuttu.    In  most  cases  they  eat  apart  from 

43  lUd.,  p.  183. 

44  Tucker,  I,  p.  96. 

45  Ferree,  p.  149. 

46  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  384. 

47  Ibid.,  p.  384. 

48  Tucker,  I,  p.  97. 

49  Stuhlraann,  p.  180;  Grant,  p.  234. 
80  Stuhlmann,  p.  181. 

51  Grant,  p.  234. 

62  Cunningham,  p.  168. 


132  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


their  hnsbands.^^  Parental  affection  is  strong. 
Grant  remarks,  of  the  death  of  a  three  year  old 
Negro  boy,  that  the  '^father  mourned  for  the  child, 
crying  most  grievously.''^*  Boys  are  preferred  to 
girls,^^  but  the  former  are  sometimes  killed  if  they 
chance  to  be  sons  of  a  chief.  In  that  case  they  are 
killed  by  their  mother  to  spare  her  the  suspicion  of 
wanting  an  heir  to  succeed  her  husband.^^  Any 
child  is  killed  if  born  feet-foremost.^*  The  attitude 
toward  *4n-laws"  is  very  frank  and  hostile.  ^^No 
man  may  see  his  mother-in-law  or  speak  to  her  face 
to  face.''  Through  the  influence  of  the  ruling  Ba- 
hima,  and  the  invading  Arab,  inheritance  has  been 
changed  in  some  of  the  tribes  from  the  female  to  the 
male  line. 

Political  Life. — This  zone,  by  reason  of  its  rich 
spontaneous  products,  is  a  coveted  region,  and  hence 
its  inhabitants  are  obliged  to  maintain  themselves 
upon  a  military  footing.  The  factors  that  determine 
the  political  character  of  the  people  are  practically 
the  same  as  those  described  as  existing  among  the 
Monbuttu  in  a  similar  region  of  this  zone  of  the  ba- 
nana. The  chief  difference  is  a  less  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence among  the  Waganda,  due  to  race  inferiority, 
lower  altitude,  and  more  enervating  climate.  Here 
the  people  lend  themselves  still  more  readily  to  the 
despotic  form  of  government.^^    The  political  hier- 

53  Stuhlmajin,  p.  180.  Ibid.,  p.  120. 

54  Page  146.  68  JUd.,  p.  124. 

65  Stuhlmann,  p.  185.  6»  Stuhlmaim,  p.  189. 

66  Roscoe,  p.  120. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  133 


archy  is  maintained  by  the  exploitation  of  one  class 
by  another.  As  there  is  no  economic  interdepen- 
dence, society  can  be  held  together  only  by  coercion. 
The  population  of  Uganda  is  estimated  at  from  one 
half  to  one  million.^^  The  mass  of  the  people  are 
ruled  ever  by  a  lighter  and  less  negroid  tyipe  known 
as  the  Bahima  (or  Wahuma),^^  a  branch  of  the  Galla 
race,  probably  expelled  from  the  eastern  plateau. 
According  to  Lapouge,  the  superiority  of  the  lighter 
colored  people  is  a  universal  phenomenon.^^  Thus 
governed  the  Waganda  once  formed  a  powerful 
State.  At  the  time  of  Stanley's  visit  the  empire  em- 
braced Koki,  Usoga,  Unyoro,  Karagwe,  Usui,  and 
other  districts  covering  an  area  of  70,000.  square 
miles.^^  Up  to  the  recent  domination  by  the  Brit- 
ish, the  Waganda  were  governed  by  an  emperor 
who  had  a  well-organized  government.  His  coun- 
cil included  a  prime  minister,  several  princesses,  a 
chief  butler,  chief  baker,  and  a  commander  of  the 
army  and  navy.^*  There  were  feudal  lords  ruling 
over  provinces  and  owing  allegiance  to  the  king.^^ 
The  population  was  divided  into  three  classes:  the 
feudal  gentry,  the  peasants  or  serfs,  and  the  slaves. 
The  local  chiefs  exercised  almost  autocratic  power. 
It  is  a  sociological  law  that  chiefs  have  little  au- 
thority where  the  tribe  is  independent,  and  much  au- 

60  Long,  p.  128;  Stulilmann,  p.  171. 

61  Grant,  I,  p.  146;  Cunningham,  p.  6;  Vveiss,  p.  329. 

62  Page  56. 

63  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  p.  306. 

64  Tiicker,  I,  p.  95. 
66  Ibid.,  p.  95. 


134  THE  NEGRO  EACES 


tliority  wliere  tlie  tribe  is  a  unit  in  a  larger  govern- 
ment.^'^ The  gentry  or  aristocratic  class  ruled  their 
subjects  with  an  iron  hand  and  oppressed  them 
sorely.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what  function  of  any 
value  such  an  aristocracy  performed.  It  must  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  Uganda  once  attained  to  a 
considerable  advance  over  the  other  peoples  of  Cen- 
tral Africa  in  the  comforts  of  life,  in  manners  and 
material  culture ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this 
culture  owed  its  introduction  to  the  aristocratic  class, 
through  imitation  of  the  foreigners  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact.  They  had  borrowed  from  the 
Eg^'ptians,  Arabs  and  Europeans.  International 
imitation  always  spreads  from  above  do^vnward 
through  the  social  strata.  ^*In  earlier  ages,"  says 
Cooley,  royal  courts  have  ser\'ed  as  centers  for  the 
reception  and  diffusion  of  foreig*n  ideas. ^^An 
aristocracy  has, '  ^  according  to  Ross,  * '  a  certain  value 
as  an  inlet  for  foreign  tastes  and  ideas.  Even 
though  it  be  not  inventive,  it  can  still  afford  a  good 
launching  place  for  inventions  and  novelties.  .  .  . 
The  French  upper  classes  catch  from  the  English  no- 
bility field  sports,  tweeds,  racing,  appreciation  of 
country  life,  etc.  In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  the  English  aristocracy  f  onned  itself  upon 
Italian  models,  and  thereby  incidentally  injected 
some  Italian  culture  into  England:  later  it  took  on 
French  fashions,  fine  arts,  free  thinking,  etc.'' In 
this  light  the  aristocracy  of  Uganda  may  have  ren- 

66  Czekanowski,  p.  596.  68*'Social  Psychology,"  p.  161. 

67  "Social  Organization,"  p.  342. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  135 


dered  some  service.  Tlie  establishment  of  privilege 
seems  to  be  necessary  to  enable  one  person  or  group 
to  impress  culture  upon  others.  A  system  of  aris- 
tocracy, however,  like  a  system  of  slavery,  is  bene- 
ficial only  in  certain  stages  of  culture.  In  modern 
times  the  great  cities,  such  as  Paris,  London,  New 
York,  and  Berlin,  have  superseded  the  aristocracy 
in  the  function  of  receiving  and  disseminating  for- 
eign ideas.^^ 

Every  young  man  of  Uganda  who  could  carry  a 
shield  used  to  belong  to  the  army.'^^  Stanley  esti- 
mated the  fighting  force  at  25,000'  men.*^^  When 
marching  the  army  was  accompanied  by  women  and 
children  carrying  spears,  weapons,  provisions  and 
water  J- 

The  administration  of  justice  in  Uganda,  and  in 
some  of  the  other  kingdoms  of  this  zone,  had  evolved 
beyond  the  independent  tribal  state,  in  which  blood 
revenge  ruled,  to  a  state  in  which  the  government 
backed  by  public  sentiment  prescribed  rights  and 
redressed  wrongs.  The  Uganda  penal  code  was 
severe.  For  adultery  the  penalty  was  loss  of  an 
ear,  torture  or  throat-cut;  for  theft  the  otfender 
was  placed  in  the  stocks;  for  striking  or  assaulting 
with  a  stick  the  fine  was  two  goats,  while  assaulting 
with  a  spear  brought  confiscation  of  property,  half 
going  to  the  sultan  and  half  to  the  injured  party  ;'^^ 

69  Cooley,  "Social  Organization,"  p.  343. 
ToRatzel,  III,  p.  10;  Stuhlmann,  p.  191. 

71  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  306. 

72  Burton,  p.  189. 

73  Grant,  p.  181. 


136  THE  NEGEO  EACES 

for  murder  all  the  property  of  the  guilty  one  was 
made  over  to  the  relatives  of  the  victim,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  murderer  were  gouged  out,  or  he  was 
thro\\Ti  from  a  precipice.  If  a  husband  came  upon 
an  adulterer  he  was  peiTaitted  to  kill  him  upon  the 
spot.  It  is  clear  from  these  facts  that  criminal  law 
was  an  expression  of  social  anger,  and  revealed  a 
well-developed  social  sentiment.  Grant  thinks  that 
crime  among  the  Waganda  was  less  than  among 
civilized  people,'^  an  observation  that  agrees  with 
the  theory  of  Arthur  Hall  that  crime  necessarily  in- 
creases with  civilization,  due  to  the  progressive  rais- 
ing of  the  moral  standard."^^  The  practice  of  torture 
in  Uganda  represented  a  higher  fomi  of  justice  than 
the  ordeal,  because  the  former  is  used  only  when  sus- 
picion or  facts  point  to  a  reasonable  iDrobability  of 
giiilt.'^ 

In  former  times  there  was  no  regular  system  of 
taxation.  When  the  king  needed  anything  he  com- 
mandeered it.'^  Generally  the  chief  of  each  district 
claimed  a  tusk  of  every  elephant  found  dead  or 
alive."^  A  special  levy  was  sometimes  made  on  per- 
sons who  had  enlarged  navels."^^ 

The  long  relatively  stable  life  of  the  Uganda  em- 
pire was  due  in  a  great  measure  to  its  lake  frontier 

7*  Page  182. 

75  "Crime  and  Social  Progress,"  Ch.  XIV. 

76  Welling,  p.  197. 

77  Cunningham,  p.  233. 

78  Grant,  p.  160;  Stuhlmann,  p.  181. 
7»  Cunningham,  p.  234. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  137 


wHch  protected  its  people  from  invasion  and  also 
from  emigration.^'^ 

Succession  was  generally  in  the  male  line.  The 
chief  was  usually  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  wife.^^ 
If  there  was  no  son  then  the  brother  or  nephew  was 
elected.^^ 

80  Semple,  p.  374. 
siHobley,  p.  369. 

82  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate/'  p.  694. 


CHAPTEE  Xin 


THE  BANTTJS  OF  THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  {cOflUnUed) 

Religious  Life. — At  tlie  time  of  the  invasion  of  the 
European  the  people  of  Uganda  had  a  well  developed 
polytheism.  They  had  gods  of  the  sky,  earthquake, 
lightning,  rain,  hurricane,  war,  etc.^  But  with  the 
polytheism  was  a  large  element  of  fetichism  or  ani- 
mism, so  that  the  total  number  of  spirits  to  be  reck- 
oned with  ran  into  the  hundreds.  Since  1884  their 
religion  has  undergone  a  rapid  revolution.  Large 
numbers  of  people  have  been  converted  to  Moham- 
medanism, or  to  some  form  of  Christianity,  mostly 
Catholic.  They  seem  to  have  displayed  a  remark- 
able capacity,  as  well  as  eagerness,  to  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  letters,  and  of  religious  principles,  both 
in  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic  communities.^  At 
present  the  followers  of  Mohammedanism  are  few. 
In  many  of  the  remoter  districts  the  people  remain 
fetich,  and  in  the  daily  round  of  life  encounter  a  mul- 
titude of  spirits,  of  which  many  are  the  spirits  of  the 
dead.  These  natural  people  of  the  Uganda  forest 
agree  with  Milton  that 

1  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  678. 
2K^ane,  "Man,  Past  and  Present,"  p.  93. 

13g 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  139 


"The  spirit  of  man 

Which  God  inspired,  cannot  together  perish 
With  this  corporeal  clod." 

But  according  to  the  fetich  view,  the  spirit  of  man, 
instead  of  soaring  to  some  ethereal  home,  abides 
here  below,  haunts  the  living  and  causes  mischief. 
This  belief  in  the  survival  of  the  body  spirit  gives 
rise  to  a  kind  of  ancestor  worship.^  Within  the 
hedge-enclosed  yard  of  each  home  is  a  small,  square 
hut,  sacred  to  the  genius  of  the  family,  the  household 
muzimu.  Certain  stones  stuck  in  the  ground  in  front 
of  the  family  hut  are  supposed  to  have  been  placed 
there  by  ancestors.^  Some  spirits  of  the  dead,  how- 
ever, are  not  regarded  with  favor.  If  the  ghost  of 
an  objectionable  deceased  person  is  seen  in  a  dream 
the  body  is  disinterred  and  burnt  to  ashes. ^  The 
body  of  a  thief  is  always  cremated  to  prevent  its 
ghost  from  troubling  the  village  by  causing  sickness.^ 
Not  only  the  spirit  of  man  returns  after  death  but 
that  also  of  animals."^  Sometimes  a  human  spirit 
returns  in  the  form  of  a  reptile,  and  hence  some  fam- 
ilies have  reptile  ancestors.^ 

These  disembodied  spirits,  being  always  present 
in  large  numbers,  get  into  mischief  and  cause  trouble 
and  expense.  If  a  mother  loses  a  child  its  spirit  may 
come  back  and  cause  the  mother  to  become  barren. 

3  Swann,  p.  208;  Cunningham,  p.  138. 
*Hobley,  p.  344. 
sibid.,  p.  339. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  340. 
T  Ibid.,  p.  344. 

8/6wf.,  p.  348.  ^ 


140  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


If  this  happen  tlie  bones  of  the  deceased  child  are 
dug  up  and  thrown  into  the  bush  as  a  preventive 
against  further  annoyance.^ 

Belief  in  charms  and  magic  is  much  in  vogue.  A 
bit  of  broken  pottery,  fixed  as  a  finial  on  the  house 
top,  prevents  children  from  becoming  cross-eyed.^^ 
A  sprig  of  a  certain  herb  worn  in  the  lobe  of  the  ear 
will  avert  a  long  list  of  evils.^^  Grant  obsen^ed  that 
the  sultan  of  Karagwe  had  bunches  of  channs  hung 
on  his  arms,  around  his  neck,  and  below  his  knees.^^ 
Various  charms  are  hung  up  in  the  houses. The 
Wanguana  march  up  and  down  beating  tin  cooking- 
pots  to  frighten  off  the  sun,  and  prevent  it  from  de- 
vouring the  moon.^* 

Disease  and  calamities  are  the  work  of  evil 
spirits,  and  hence  the  need  of  the  witch-doctor. 
This  all-important  magician  makes  charms  for  the 
people,  detects  thieves,  and  administers  potent 
medicines,  makes  songs  to  the  ancestral  spirit  upon 
the  birth  of  a  child,  divines  the  future,  and  makes 
offerings  to  ancestral  ghosts. The  sultan  of 
Karagwe  combined  the  offices  of  prophet,  priest 
and  king."  He  predicted  rain  by  means  of 
chaiTQS.^^    The  first  step  in  sickness  is  to  call  in  the 

9HobIey,  p.  340. 

10  Ibid.,  p.  343. 

11  Ibid.,  p.  345. 

12  Ibid.,  p.  146. 

13  Stanley,  *'TlirougIi  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  384. 
1*  Avebury,  p.  245. 

15  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  pp.  587,  678. 
i«  Grant,  p.  139. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  141 


village  doctor  who  decides  at  once  if  the  patient  will 
die  or  recover. In  cases  of  stealing  a  very  unique 
kind  of  witch-doctor  is  employed  by  the  king  as  a 
ferret.  Grant  observed  one-eyed  man  with  a 
cow^s  horn  in  his  hand  to  detect  the  thief.  The  horn 
was  capped  over  with  a  rag  of  bark  and  had  an  iron 
bell  tinkling  from  its  top.^'  This  was  carried 
through  the  village  and  shaken  in  the  face  of  the  sus- 
pected.^^ In  the  vicinity  of  Ujiji,  where  canoes  are 
hewn  from  logs  and  brought  down  the  mountain  to 
the  water,  ^4he  village  medicine  man,  for  a  fee,  per- 
forms an  elaborate  ceremony  on  the  newly  born  in- 
fant, as  he  calls  it." 

The  witch-doctor  is  the  center  of  interest  in  this 
zone.  His  physiognomy,  dress,  manners  and  arts 
are  of  the  most  unusual  kind.  He  is  the  people's 
ideal — their  hero.  The  secret  of  his  power  lies  in 
the  strangeness  and  mystery  that  envelop  him  and 
his  work.  And,  by  the  way,  it  may  be  said  that  love 
of  the  mysterious  is  just  as  marked  a  characteristic 
of  ci\dlized  as  of  savage  people;  and  is  one  of  the 
greatest  factors  of  human  progress.  Our  civilized 
hero  owes  a  large  part  of  his  power  to  his  abnor- 
malities, physical  and  psychological,  which  excite 
our  imagination.  Says  Cooley,  **a  strange  and 
somewhat  impassive  physiognomy  is  often,  perhaps, 
an  advantage  to  an  orator,  or  leader  of  any  sort, 
because  it  helps  to  fix  the  eye  and  fascinate  the 

17  Cunningham,  p.  36. 
"Page  197. 
19  Swann,  p.  77. 


142  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


mind."  Tlie  savage  witch-doctor,  therefore,  gives 
the  people  a  slight  training  in  hero  worship. 

Sacrifices  of  various  kinds  are  common,  including 
sometimes  human  beings.  Upon  the  death  of  a 
chief  some  of  his  household  or  followers  must  ac- 
company him  into  the  other  world.^^  In  Uganda 
when  the  health  of  the  king  was  in  danger  cattle  were 
sacrificed,^^  and  at  the  command  of  the  witch-doctor 
people  were  driven  into  Lake  Victoria  to  relieve  the 
toothache  of  the  queen-mother.^^  An  island  in  this 
lake  was  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  invisible  spirits 
that  invaded  the  surrounding  country,  causing  sick- 
ness and  death.  If  things  went  wrong,  if  children 
died  or  became  sick,  etc.,  offerings  of  goats,  beer  and 
other  things  were  despatched  to  the  island  to  pro- 
pitiate the  spirits.^* 

Idolatry  is  almost  universal.  Referring  to  the 
people  about  Lake  Tanganyika,  Swann  says,  that 

close  by,  in  a  grove  of  banana  trees,  I  saw  a  group 
of  images  placed  in  a  circle.  They  were  beautiful 
specimens  of  carving  but  represented  most  hideous 
faces  of  men  and  beasts.'* Avebury  thinks  that 
idolatry  represents  a  higher  form  of  religion  than 
fetichism,  and  agrees  with  Spencer  that  it  is  con- 
nected with  ancestor  worship.^^ 

20  "Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order,"  p.  314. 

21  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  716. 

22  Cunningham,  p.  146. 
23 /Hd,  p.  146. 

24  Hobley,  p.  341. 
26  Page  208. 

26  Avebury,  p.  361;  Spencer,  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  I,  p.  447, 
Appleton  ed.,  1884. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  143 


The  superstitious  practices  above  named  do  not 
now  obtain  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  missions  and 
trade  centers,  and  they  probably  never  reached  the 
extremes  of  absurdity  common  to  the  Negroes  of  the 
Lower  Niger.  Sorcery  and  magic  have  little  influ- 
ence with  the  ruling  classes  but  are  used  by  them 
to  terrorize  their  subjects.^^ 

Ceremonial  Life. — Ceremonies  are  more  numerous 
and  elaborate  in  Uganda  than  elsewhere  in  Central 
Africa.^^  They  are  fostered  by  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic inequalities,^^  the  density  of  population,  and 
the  dullness  of  the  life.  Where  the  life  is  dull  and 
the  population  dense  there  is  a  strong  impulse  in  the 
privileged  class  to  impress  the  masses  through  cere- 
mony, and  a  readiness  of  the  masses  to  join  in 
them.^^  These  ceremonies  concern  the  preparing 
and  eating  of  food,  the  family  relations,  the  behavior 
of  one  class  towards  another,  the  proceedings  at  the 
court,  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  the  interment  of 
the  dead.  The  sultan  of  Karagwe,  observed  Grant, 
would  not  drink  out  of  a  vessel  that  we  or  any  com- 
moner had  used,^^  and  no  one  would  drink  milk  from 
a  cow  used  by  Grant  for  fear  that  his  boiling  the  milk 
might  bewitch  the  cow.^^  Besides  the  marriage  cere- 
mony,^^  wives  and  children  must  observe  certain 

27  Schweinitz,  p.  104, 

28  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  p.  409. 

29  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  685. 

30  Cooley,  "Social  Organization,"  p.  186. 

31  Page  139. 
S2Page  167. 

33  Stuhlmann,  p.  183. 


144  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


formalities  of  respect  to  tlie  head  of  the  family. 
Friends  and  strangers  have  polite  forms  of  greet- 
ing. *^The  salutation  of  the  Uganda,"  says  Long, 
**is  very  peculiar.  As  two  persons  meet,  the  word 
*Ouangah'  is  responded  to  by  *0h  hi'  which  con- 
tinues from  an  elevated  voice  to  a  lower  tone  until 
it  becomes  scarcely  audible ;  then,  and  not  till  then, 
does  the  conversation  commence. '  ^  A  peasant 
passing  an  acquaintance  says  *'Kulungi,"  meaning 
it  is  well.  "When  strangers  meet  the  greeting  takes 
the  form  of  a  dialogue  of  inquiry  about  health,  and 
news,  and  ends  in  a  series  of  grunts.^^  The  natives 
of  Uganda,  says  Tucker,  display  innate  politeness. 
They  express  thanks  for  work  done  by  slaves  or  other 
persons.  A  traveler  is  greeted  by  the  expression, 
congratulate  you  on  your  journey. '^^^  Strangers, 
in  order  to  secure  fellowship  with  the  natives  of  out- 
lying tribes,  must  undergo  the  ceremony  of  blood- 
brotherhood.^^  Monarchs  and  chiefs  go  about  with 
a  good  deal  of  state.  **Thus  the  monarch,"  says 
Stanley,  *^has  always  about  two  score  of  drummers, 
a  score  of  pipers,  half  a  score  of  native  guitar  play- 
ers, several  mountebanks,  clowns,  dwarfs,  and  al- 
binos, a  multitude  of  errand  boys,  pages,  messengers, 
courtiers,  claimants,  besides  a  large  number  of  body- 
guards, and  two  standard  bearers,  either  following 
or  proceeding  him  wherever  he  goes,  to  declare  his 

34  Page  128. 

35  Johnston,  *'Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  68G. 

36  I,  p.  97. 

37  Grant,  p.  271;  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  pp.  132, 
253. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE 


145 


state  and  quality.  The  chiefs,  therefore,  have  also 
their  followers,  standard  bearers  and  pages,  and  so 
on  down  to  the  peasant  or  cowherd,  who  makes  an 
infantile  slave  trot  after  him  to  carry  his  shield  and 
spears/' 

Love  of  the  spectacular  goes  along  with  love  of 
ceremony.  In  the  array  of  courtiers,  and  in  the 
gaudiness  of  dress,  the  ruling  class  impress  their 
superiority  upon  the  populace.  When  Long  visited 
Uganda  he  saw  the  king  ^^dresssed  in  violet-colored 
silk,  embroidered  with  gold,  and  wearing  a  new 
Egyptian  fez."39 

-^Esthetic  Life. — In  the  eastern  part  of  the  banana 
zone,  on  account  of  its  elevation,  the  inhabitants  wear 
more  clothing  than  in  the  western  part ;  and  this  fact 
perhaps  explains  why  the  tattooing  and  other  mu- 
tilations of  the  body  are  less  practiced  in  the  former 
region.  In  Uganda  the  royal  class  make  a  slight 
cut  below  the  eyes,  but  do  not  extract  or  file  the 
teeth.^^  The  same  reason  explains  the  less  atten- 
tion given  to  painting  the  body.^^  Among  some 
tribes  of  Uganda,  however,  body-painting  is  highly 
artistic* 2  The  body  is  greased,  in  some  cases  with 
butter,  probably  as  a  protective  substitute  for 
clothing.  In  the  matter  of  decorations,  the  people 
of  this  zone  vie  with  those  of  any  other.  Personal 
ornaments  are  not  so  generally  worn,  but  where  they 

38  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  409. 

39Pa^e  113. 

40  Grant,  p.  174. 

*i  Stuhlmann,  p.  175. 

*2  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  432. 


146  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


are  at  all  tlie  fashion,  they  reach  an  absurd  extreme. 
For  example,  important  people  wear  huge  masses  of 
wire  on  their  ankles.^^  A  woman  of  Mpororo  was 
seen  wearing  216  rings  on  one  leg.^*  Perhaps  wire 
and  iron  rings  are  a  kind  of  cash,  and  are  carried 
round  the  limbs  as  a  substitute  for  pockets  and 
safety-vaults.  At  any  rate,  Carlile  believes  that 
ornament  was  the  first  money  and  sa^^ngs  bank.^^ 

The  decorative  impulse  seems  to  be  more  ex- 
pended on  tools,  utensils,  weapons,  idols,  etc.,  than 
is  usual  with  the  African  Xegro.  The  Uganda  im- 
plements and  ware  are  carefully  and  beautifully 
made.^^ 

The  dress  approximates  closely  to  that  of  civil- 
ized people.  The  natives  wear  mostly  togas  of 
white  calico,  but  some  of  them  preserve  the  tradi- 
tional dress  of  goat-skins  and  native  bark-cloth.^^ 
The  men  used  to  wear  a  toga  of  bark-cloth,  varying 
in  color  from  salmon  to  brick  red,^^  and  the  women 
the  same  material,  girded  around  the  waist,  and 
sometimes  carrying  a  friezed  cow-skin  reaching 
from  waist  to  ankle."*^  In  both  sexes,  says  Tucker, 
the  dress  *4s  extremely  picturesque."  In  the  out- 
lying districts  the  clothing  seems  to  diminish  in 

43  Grant,  p.  168. 

44  Weiss,  p.  328. 

45  Page  293. 

46  Stuhlmann,  p.  176. 

47  Grant,  p.  186;  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  833. 

48  Grant,  p.  233. 
*9lbid.,  p.  179. 
50  I,  p.  94. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  147 


quantity  and  quality.  Among  tlie  Bavnma,  an  is- 
land people  of  Lake  Victoria,  the  men  still  wear  the 
bark-cloth,  knotted  over  the  shoulder  and  flowing 
gracefully  to  the  ground,  while  the  women  wear  only 
a  banana  leaf.^^  In  some  districts  a  skin  loin-cloth 
is  used,  and  in  others,  for  instance,  a  district  north 
of  Lake  Victoria,  both  sexes  work  in  the  field  in  a 
state  of  complete  nudity.^ ^  The  native  cotton  cloth 
does  not  penetrate  the  forest.^^ 

Dancing  seems  not  so  fashionable  here  as  among 
the  West  Africans,  and  is  indulged  in  almost  exclu- 
sively by  the  men.  **The  women  form  one  line,'* 
says  Cunningham,  **and  opposite  them  the  men  in 
another  line  with  bells  attached  to  their  feet.  The 
men  prance  about  a  bit,  and  do  a  good  deal  of  bell- 
jingling;  the  women,  standing  in  the  opposite  line, 
merely  throw  up  their  hands  and  clap  at  certain 
parts  of  the  dance.  This  is  kept  up  for  hours  at  a 
time.''^^ 

Uganda  is  a  land  of  music  and  musicians.  It 
possesses  a  great  variety  of  native  musical  instru- 
ments, such  as  the  drum,  horn,  rattles,  bells,  flute, 
harp,  etc.,^^  with  many  additions  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  European  civilization.  Every  little  goat- 
herd* has  his  flute,''  says  Tucker,  **and  almost  every 
other  man  who  walks  along  the  road  is  playing  on  a 

Cunningham,  p.  130. 
62  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  47. 
B3  Ankermann,  p.  62. 
B4Page  35. 

85  Long,  p.  127;  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  113;  Grant, 
p.  186. 


148  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


reed  flageolet.'^ Chaille  Long  once  charmed  the 
court  circles  by  a  music  box  which  played  Dixie/' 
and  Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp,  the  Boys  are  March- 
ing." The  natives  are  very  fond  of  singing,^^  and 
a  professional  class  of  singers  is  employed  by  the 
king  to  enliven  his  court.  The  aBsthetic  sense  of  the 
Negro  seems  to  be  strongest  in  regions  of  bountiful 
resources  near  the  equator  where  there  is  little  to 
occupy  the  attention.^^  In  regions  demanding  more 
struggle  for  existence  the  attention  is  directed  more 
into  other  lines.  Civilized  people  are  less  aesthetic 
than  savages,  i.  e.,  they  are  less  absorbed  in  the  sen- 
sitive life.  In  the  character  of  the  aesthetic  manifes- 
tations the  civilized  people  are,  of  course,  far  ahead 
of  the  savage.  The  aesthetic  contrast  between  the 
high  and  low  races  is  forcibly  brought  out  in  Rus- 
kin's  *^Two  Paths.'' 

Psychological  Life. — Information  in  regard  to  the 
cranial  capacity  of  the  people  of  this  region  is  too 
meager  for  any  positive  statements.  In  a  general 
way  it  may  be  said  that  the  cranial  capacity  of  the 
Central  African  Bantu  is  smaller  than  that  of  the 
southern  branches  of  the  same  race.  According  to 
Shrubsall,  the  Central  African  cranium  has  a  ca- 
pacity of  1,430  c.  c.  and  the  Kafir  cranium  a  capacity 
of  1,540  c.  c.^*^  Whethei  this  difference  has  anything 
to  do  with  the  intelligence  of  the  two  peoples,  it  is 

56  I,  p.  98. 

57  Page  114. 

88  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  833. 

59  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  473. 

60  "Notes  on  Crania,"  p.  257. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  149 


certain  that  the  Kafir  is  far  superior  in  intelligence 
to  the  Bantus  of  Central  Africa.  Among  the  Cen- 
tral African  Bantus,  however,  the  Waganda  are  su- 
perior to  any  other  division;  and  this  superior- 
ity is  partly  due  to  mixture  of  blood  with  the  Ba- 
hima. 

The  Waganda  generally  show  less  pugnacity  and 
more  self-abasement  than  the  Niam-Niam  or  Mon- 
buttu,  and  fully  as  much  of  the  gregarious  instinct 
as  any  other  Africans.  They  have  less  foresight 
than  the  people  of  the  agricultural  zones  to  the 
north  and  south  of  them.  Thanks  to  the  bounty  of 
nature,  they  have  little  need  of  that  faculty.  In 
mechanical  skill  they  show  considerable  aptness, 
and  in  cunning  and  fraud  they  exhibit  the  keenest 
intelligence.  In  the  opinion  of  Stanley,  *^  Their 
cloths  are  of  a  finer  make,  their  habitations  are 
better  and  neater ;  their  spears  are  the  most  perfect, 
I  should  say,  in  Africa ;  and  they  exhibit  extraordi- 
nary skill  and  knowledge  of  that  deadly  weapon; 
their  shields  are  such  as  would  attract  admiration 
in  any  land,  while  the  canoes  surpass  all  canoes  in 
the  savage  world. ' ^  At  the  time  of  Stanley's  visit 
the  emperor  and  his  court  could  read  and  write  in 
Arabic.^  2 

The  Waganda  are  more  emotional  than  the  Niam- 
Niam  or  Kafir.  Their  feelings  and  passions  exer- 
cise a  more  despotic  sway  over  conduct.  What  they 
will  do,  therefore,  is  not  calculable,  and  it  is  on  this 

61  "rhrough  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  410. 

62  Ihid.,  p.  410. 


150  THE  NEGKO  EACES 


account  that  they  have  to  be  governed  despotically.^^ 
It  follows  from  this  emotionalism  that  the  people 
have  a  weak  inhibiting  power.  This  deficiency  is 
a  common  characteristic  of  the  Negro  everywhere, 
because  of  the  dominion  which  his  feelings  exercise 
over  his  will.  Several  eminent  scholars,  however, 
have  attempted  to  maintain,  to  the  contrary,  that 
the  Negro  has  rather  remarkable  power  of  inhibi- 
tion. They  cite  as  evidence  a  long  list  of  taboos  on 
food,  the  customs  of  sexual  abstinence  by  women 
during  the  period  of  gestation  and  nursing,  etc. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  these  taboos  and  ab- 
stinences have  any  connection  with  the  power  of 
inhibition.  In  the  first  place,  many  of  the  food  re- 
strictions are  prohibitions  imposed  by  the  king  and 
aristocracy,  in  the  interest  of  monopolistic  privilege, 
and  do  not  represent  any  voluntary  inhibition  by 
the  abstainer.  In  the  second  place,  the  sexual  con- 
tinence of  married  women,  and  other  customs  of 
abstinence,  are  not  inhibitions  in  the  ordinary  ac- 
ceptation of  the  term.  Among  civilized  people  this 
power  means  the  voluntary  postponement  of  some 
enjoyment  for  a  greater  future  satisfaction.  We 
choose  to  inhibit  our  present  desire  or  appetite, 
knowing  that  we  are  perfectly  free  to  do  so,  and 
that  the  penalty  for  not  doing  so  is  want  and  suffer- 
ing inflicted  by  ourselves.  Contrary  to  this,  the  in- 
hibitions of  the  savage  are  not  voluntary,  and  do  not 
arise  out  of  measuring  the  present  against  the  fu- 
ture.   In  every  case  the  inhibition  is  either  the  re- 

63  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  408. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  151 


suit  of  fear  of  immediate  harm  from  some  person  or 
spirit.  The  savage  believes  that  if  he  violates  a 
taboo  he  will  be  immediately  punished,  probably  by 
death.^^  Abstinence  from  women,  says  Sumner,  is 
due  to  the  fear  of  demons.^ ^  Of  the  Muganda  people 
of  Africa,  Johnston  says,  ''if  they  ate  forbidden 
food  they  would  suffer  something  like  a  loss  of  cast© 
.  .  .  become  covered  with  sores. ''^^  Hence  this 
suppression  of  the  present  desire  does  not  rep- 
resent any  foresight  or  value  placed  upon  the 
future.  It  no  more  illustrates  inhibiting  power 
than  the  refusal  of  a  civilized  man  to  put  his  finger 
in  the  fire,  or  to  swallow  a  deadly  poison.  Lack  of 
inhibition  is  not  only  characteristic  of  the  Negro 
but  of  the  inefficient  elements  of  all  races. 

The  imagination  of  the  Waganda  is  very  much 
inflamed  by  terror.  It  peoples  the  forest  and 
streams  with  ghosts  and  demons,  and  these  become 
the  all-absorbing  center  of  attention.  Like  a  fever 
patient  in  delirium,  the  people  see  everything  in 
an  abnormal  and  distorted  form.  They  attribute 
to  their  deities  monstrous  shapes  and  character- 
istics. Their  imagination  is  constantly  employed  to 
invent  myths  to  explain  their  deities  and  to  devise 
means  of  conjuring  them.  Buckle  would  call  this 
a  case  of  the  imagination  predominating  over  the 
reason.  But  these  two  terms  cannot  be  set  in  op- 
position, because  all  reasoning  involves  the  play  of 

6*Marett,  202. 

65  "Folkways,"  p.  511. 

ee  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  691. 


152  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


the  imagination.  And  the  play  of  the  imagination 
is  a  process  of  reasoning.  Even  dreams,  according 
to  some  modern  psychologists,  are  the  effort  of 
reason  to  put  in  logical  connection  the  floating  ideas 
that  appear  to  man  in  his  half -conscious  state.  The 
effort  of  the  savage  imagination  to  explain  the 
phenomena  around  him,  by  the  invention  of  myth 
and  a  world  of  spirits  whom  he  must  win  over  or 
circumvent,  is  the  first  beginning  of  that  interpre- 
tation of  nature  which  later  results  in  the  flowering 
of  every  science  and  philosophy. 

The  Waganda  belong  in  Ribot^s  category  of  the 
emotional  type,^^  or  according  to  Giddings  the  idio- 
emotional  type,  characterized  by  lack  of  self-control 
and  deliberation,  and  lack  of  the  habit  of  attaining 
ends  by  indirect  means.^^  Emotionalism  is  de- 
veloped among  a  people  whose  struggle  for  exist- 
ence is  so  easy  that  the  higher  faculties  of  the  mind 
have  no  chance  to  develop.^^  Emotionalism  is  also 
favored  among  a  people  whose  interests  are  few,  and 
subject  to  very  irregular  excitement.  A  dull,  in- 
active life,  having  few  and  rare  excitements  is  sure 
to  promote  an  explosive  disposition;  whereas  an 
active  life  of  varied  and  frequent  excitements  pro- 
motes discipline  and  control.  The  emotional  ex- 
citement of  the  people,  their  fear  of  evil  spirits, 
and  of  their  neighbors,  throw  them  frequently  into 
a  mood  of  agitation."^^ 

67  Page  395. 

68  "Inductive  Sociology,"  pp.  139,  140. 

69  Buckle,  I,  Ch.  II. 

70  Williams,  p.  744;  Ribot,  pp.  388,  394. 


THE  EASTERN  BANANA  ZONE  153 


In  the  family  circle  tlie  people  of  this  zone  dis- 
play the  virtues  common  to  human  nature  every- 
where, and  sometimes  exhibit  heroic  devotion.  An 
example  of  such  devotion  is  mentioned  by  Swann 
in  the  case  of  the  rescue  of  a  boy  who  was  seized 
by  a  crocodile  while  playing  in  Lake  Tanganyika. 
*^The  lad's  brother,  who  was  standing  on  the  shore, 
seeing  his  brother  in  trouble,  without  the  least  hesi- 
tation leaped  into  the  water,  amongst  the  screaming 
boys,  and  dealt  the  crocodile  a  heavy  blow  with  his 
axe.  This  made  him  release  the  boy,  who  was 
promptly  dragged  on  shore.  Blood-poisoning  set 
in  and  he  died.'^^^  Lying  is  not  common  between 
members  of  the  same  group  or  rank.*^^ 

Outside  the  family  circle  there  is  little  considera- 
tion for  anybody.  The  poorness  of  communication 
prevents  any  consciousness  of  solidarity  over  a 
wide  area,  and,  outside  of  a  small  circle  of  kin  or 
neighbors,  everybody  is  a  stranger  and  enemy  for 
whom  there  is  little  sympathy.  It  is  not  surprising, 
then,  that  the  Waganda  should  be  characterized  as 
crafty,  deceitful,  thievish  knaves,  and  as  loving  gain 
by  robbery  and  violence,*^^  and  loving  their  enemies 
— cooked.'^*    Vanity  is  a  marked  trait."^^ 

The  Waganda  cannot  be  said  to  possess  courage. 
They  sometimes  fall  into  a  frenzy  and  act  with  des- 
peration, but  the  cool  courage  that  weighs  the  con- 

71  Page  226. 

72  Schweinitz,  p.  106. 

73  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  408. 
74Cureau,  p.  642. 

75  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  I,  p.  409. 


154 


THE  NEGKO  RACES 


sequences,  and  is  spurred  on  by  group  sentiment, 
is  absent.  This  deficiency  is  generally  character- 
istic of  the  Negro,  and  differentiates  him  from  the 
American  Indian.  The  contrast  is  illustrated  in  the 
folklore  of  the  two  races.  In  the  animal  stories  of 
the  Indians,  for  instance,  man  nearly  always  over- 
comes the  beast  by  a  bold  struggle;  while  in  the 
similar  stories  of  the  Negro  the  beast  usually  gets 
the  better  of  the  man,  or  is  outdone  by  magic. 
Stories  of  encounter  between  man  and  beast  are, 
indeed,  rare  in  Africa.  Of  the  Central  African 
folklore  Hobley  says,  ^*Tlie  general  type  of  the 
story  is  usually  the  meeting  of  a  savage  animal  with 
a  hannless  one,  and  the  eventual  triumph  of  the 
harmless  one  by  some  simple  trick. 

Contact  with  Europeans  has  done  much  to  lift 
the  Waganda  from  their  savagery.  It  has  di- 
minished wars,  human  sacrifices,  trial  by  ordeal, 
and  reformed  the  administration  of  justice."^^ 
Many  mission  schools  have  Christianized  and  en- 
lightened the  masses.  It  is  claimed  that  200,000  of 
the  natives  can  read  and  write.  In  religious,  as  in 
other  innovations,  however,  the  transformation  has 
apparently  been  too  sudden,  and  not  always  adapted 
to  native  psychology.  Bishop  Tucker  of  Uganda 
remarked  that,  *^Were  I  asked  to  give  my  opinion 
as  to  what,  in  my  estimation,  has  most  hindered  the 
development  and  independence  of  the  native 
churches  I  should  unhesitatingly  answer,  that  deep- 

76  Page  337. 

77  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate/'  pp.  277,  280. 


THE  EASTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  155 


rooted  tendency  which  there  is  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
character  to  Anglicize  everything  with  which  it 
comes  in  contact. ' '  Every  religion  must  be  modi- 
fied in  form,  if  not  in  substance,  to  suit  local  con- 
ditions, says  Montesquieu,  **and  when  Montezuma 
with  so  much  obstinacy  insisted  that  the  religion  of 
the  Spaniards  was  good  for  their  country,  and  his 
for  Mexico,  he  did  not  assert  an  absurdity. ' '  What 
the  final  outcome  may  be  of  European  influence  up- 
on the  Waganda  is  difficult  to  predict.  It  will  be 
an  exception  to  the  rule,  however,  if  the  native  popu- 
lation does  not  die  out  as  a  result  of  civilized  inno- 
vations. The  Waganda  were  already  on  the  rapid 
decline  under  the  influence  of  Mohammedanism,  and 
the  European  came  just  in  time  to  prevent  them 
from  dying  out  from  '^premature  debauchery. 
Will  the  European  civilization  reverse  the  trend  or 
hasten  the  extermination?  Some  writers  claim  that 
the  Negroes  of  the  tropics  can  never  be  exterminated 
because  they  are  necessary  to  do  the  field  work  for 
which  the  white  man  is  unfitted.^  ^  But  the  fact  is 
that  the  white  man,  with  his  knowledge  of  sanitation, 
can  live  in  any  climate  that  any  other  race  can  live  in. 

78  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  November-December,  1897,  p.  259. 

79  "Spirit  of  Laws,"  II,  p.  127. 

80  Johnston,  "Uganda  Protectorate,"  p.  640. 

81  Semple,  p.  114. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BANTUS  OF  THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE 

General  Description  of  the  Zone. — The  western 
banana  zone  is,  in  some  important  particulars, 
different  from  that  of  the  east.  In  the  first  place, 
it  is  much  lower  in  altitude,  forming  for  the  most 
part  a  low  basin,  little  above  sea  level,  except  in  the 
Kameruns  where  a  few  mountains  rise  to  a  consider- 
able height.  It  is  an  area  of  great  rainfall,  and 
multitudinous  rivers,  and  lakes  of  inky-black 
slime '  *  that  lie '  ^  like  a  rotten  serpent  twisted  between 
the  mangroves.''^  Along  the  water  courses  and 
swamps  vegetation  takes  the  form  of  gigantic  forests 
so  interlaced  and  dark  as  to  prevent  any  under- 
growth.^ **From  the  summits  of  trees,''  says  Miss 
Kingsley,  hang  great  bushropes,  some  as  straight 
as  plumb  lines,  others  coiled  around  and  intertwined 
among  each  other,  until  one  could  fancy  one  was 
looking  on  some  mighty  battle  between  armies  of 
gigantic  serpents."^  But  the  aspect  of  the  forest 
is  not  altogether  unpleasing.  **Many  of  the  highest 
trees,"  says  Miss  Kingsley,  **are  covered  with 

1  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  237. 

2  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  200. 
5  Ibid.,  p.  201. 

156 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  157 


brown-pink  young  shoots  that  look  like  flowers,  and 
others  are  decorated  by  my  enemy  the  climbing  palm, 
now  bearing  clusters  of  bright,  crimson  berries. 
Climbing  i^lants  of  other  kinds  are  wreathing  every- 
thing, some  blossoming  with  mauve,  some  with  yel- 
low and  some  with  white  flowers,  and  every  now  and 
then  a  soft  sweet  breath  of  fragrance  comes  out  to 
us  as  we  pass  by."^  However,  Miss  Kingsley 
thinks  that  there  are  too  many  mosquitoes  and  sand- 
flies in  the  scenery,^  and  too  often  the  atmosphere  is 
three-fourths  solid  stench  from  putrifying  ooze.^ 

Along  the  river  slopes,  where  the  soil  is  drained, 
the  vegetation  is  not  so  dense,  and  there  the  people 
can  make  a  clearing  and  cultivate  a  few  plants. 

The  fauna  include  the  elephant,  hippopotamus, 
crocodile,  butfalo,  antelope,  porcupine,  bear,  gorilla, 
and  many  animals  of  the  smaller  kind/  Along 
water  courses  one  sees  crocodiles  sprawling  in  all 
directions  with  mouth  wide  open,  and  in  all  of  the 
pools,  the  hippopotamus  snorts  and  wallows.^  The 
countiy  is  full  of  birds,  great  and  small.  Flocks  of 
pelican  and  crane  rise  out  of  the  grass,  says  Miss 
Kingsley,  *^and  the  hornbills,  about  the  size  of  a 
turkey-hen,  carry  on  long  confabulations  with  each 
other  across  the  river,  and  I  believe,  sit  up  half  the 
night  and  talk  scandal."^    If  you  walk  across  the 

^Ihid.,  p.  85. 
5  Ibid.,  p.  90. 
elbid.,  p.  238. 

TRatzel,  III,  p.  117;  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,**  p.  206. 
8  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  182. 
8  "TVavels  in  West  Africa,"  p,  175. 


158  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


forest,  jiggers''  get  in  your  feet,  and  if  yon  wade 
the  streams,  leeches  cling  to  you,  and  if  you  lie  down 
to  sleep  large  centipedes  and  scorpions  drop  on  your 
bed.io 

Inhabitants. — The  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the 
banana  zone  are  the  Bantu,  already  mentioned  in 
Chapter  XII  as  occupying  almost  the  entire  area  of 
Central  and  Southern  Africa.  They  are  homogene- 
ous in  the  common  linguistic  characteristic  of  ex- 
clusive use  of  prefixes  rather  than  by  common  physi- 
ognomy. A  few  tribes  of  this  zone  seem  to  show 
traces  of  Caucasian  mixture.  For  example,  the  Bal- 
bua  and  the  Ababua,  neighbors  of  the  Zandeh,  have 
some  resemblance  to  the  white  race,  and  are  lauded 
for  their  physical  beauty.^^  The  Balolo,  in  the  bend 
of  the  Congo,  show  a  refined  type  of  face  and  light 
color  of  skin.^^  But  the  most  remarkable  people  of 
the  Central  Congo  (the  northern  bend)  are  the  Bay- 
anzi,  Bangala,  Ngombe,  etc.,  who  have  veiy  decided 
Caucasian  features.^^  As  the  traveler  goes  inland 
from  the  West  Coast  he  meets  an  improved  type  of 
men  of  a  lighter  color.^^  Probably  this  mixture 
of  white  blood  has  resulted  from  an  invasion  of  the 
Libyans  into  this  region  in  the  remote  past.  The 
climate,  no  doubt,  has  had  something  to  do  with  the 
lighter  color  of  some  of  these  tribes.    The  darkest 

10  Ibid.,  pp.  150,  242,  173. 

11  Wolf,  p.  728. 

12  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  512. 
i3/6i<Z.,  p.  525. 

i*Ihid.,  p.  528. 

isRatzel,  III,  p.  106;  Ward,  p.  289. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  159 


Negroes  are  not  found  directly  under  the  equator, 
but  in  the  less  forested  regions  where  the  sun's  rays 
are  less  hidden  by  cloud  and  foliage.^^  The  dark 
complexion  is  due  to  the  thickening  of  the  pigment 
of  the  skin  as  a  protection  against  the  injurious  ef- 
fects of  the  short  rays  of  the  sun.^^  The  most  in- 
teresting people  of  this  zone  are  the  Fan.  They 
are  a  fine  race,  especially  in  the  mountain  dis- 
tricts of  Sierra  del  Cristal,  where  one  sees  magnif- 
icent specimens  of  human  beings,  male  and  female. 
They  are  tall  powerful  people,  of  dark  brown  color, 
often  with  regular  features.*^  Taking  the  Bantu 
as  a  whole,  however,  they  form  a  decided  Negro 
type,  differing  from  the  Nigritians  by  a  somewhat 
shorter  stature,  (undeveloped  legs  among  the  river- 
ain tribes,  due  to  living  much  in  boats),  less  elon- 
gated head,  less  prognathism,  and  less  flattened 
nose.^^  They  all  resemble  Alexander  the  Great  in 
emitting  a  strong  odor.-^  The  Bantu  race  originated 
probably  in  the  central  western  part  of  this  zone 
somewhere  southeast  of  Lake  Chad.  They  were 
pushed  south  by  invaders  probably  coming  from  the 
west.  Johnston  thinks  that  the  dispersion  began 
about  2,000  years  ago.^i  Their  original  home  was 
relatively  a  restricted  area,  which  nowhere  exceeded 

16  Boshart,  p.  98 ;  Semple,  p.  39. 

17  Woodruff,  *'Tlie  Effects  of  Tropical  Light  upon  the  White  Man,'* 
p.  88. 

18  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  pp.  137,  266. 
i9Deniker,  p.  458. 

20  Montaigne's  Essay  "Of  Smells." 
81  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  480, 


160  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


the  limits  of  the  banana  zone.  **The  slighter  the 
inner  differences  in  an  ethnic  stock,''  says  Semple, 

whether  in  culture,  language  or  physical  traits, 
the  smaller  was  their  center  of  distribution  and  the 
more  rapid  their  dispersal.  The  small  initial 
habitat  restricts  the  chances  of  variation  through 
isolation  and  contrasted  geographic  conditions,  as 
does  also  the  short  duration  of  their  subsequent 
separation.  .  .  .  The  distribution  of  the  Bantu  dia- 
lects over  so  wide  a  region  in  Central  Africa,  and 
with  such  slight  divergences,  presupposes  narrow 
limits  both  of  space  and  time  for  their  origin,  and  a 
short  period  since  their  dispersal." 

Economic  Life. — The  people  of  this  western 
banana  zone  are  fundamentally  vegetarians.^^  They 
subsist  mostly  upon  the  banana,  plantain,  and  the 
oil-palm.^^  These  plants  grow  spontaneously,  though 
they  are  to  some  extent  cultivated.  In  small  clear- 
ings other  products  are  grown,  such  as  the  yam, 
sweet  potato,  maize,  pumpkin,  pineapple,  manioc, 
etc.^^  No  natural  races,  however,  are  vegetarians 
from  choice.  They  supplement  their  farinaceous  diet 
by  whatever  animal  resource  is  available.  On  ac- 
count of  the  tsetse  fly  cattle  and  horses  do  not  thrive, 
and  the  only  domestic  fauna  are  the  goat,  dog  and 

22  Page  123. 

23  Wolf,  p.  237. 

24  Overbergh,  p.  67;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo," 
I,  p.  605;  Milligan,  p.  140;  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa," 
p.  151. 

25  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  pp.  151,  153;  Overbergh,  p. 
68;  Milligan,  p.  115. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  161 


fowl.^^  None  of  these  is  plentiful  or  well  treated. 
The  eggs  that  a  traveler  is  likely  to  find,  says  Miss 
Kingsley,  are  more  fit  for  electioneering  purposes 
than  for  anything  else.^^  Some  of  the  tribes  eat  the 
dog.2^  The  chase  is  the  main  reliance  for  meat,  and 
the  chief  joy  and  occupation  of  the  men.  On  account 
of  its  hazards  the  men  are  obliged  to  hunt  in  large 
bands.  When  a  lierd  of  elephants  or  buffaloes  is 
located  the  chief  of  the  tribe  sounds  his  drum  and  the 
men  of  the  surrounding  villages  assemble  for  the 
hunt.  The  products  of  the  chase  are  apportioned  by 
the  chief  among  the  hunters,  the  lion's  share,  includ- 
ing the  ivory,  being  retained  by  the  chief  himself. 
The  big  game,  unfortunately,  is  not  always  abundant, 
and  during  the  long  intervals  when  it  cannot  be  found 
the  hunters  fall  back  upon  the  small  and  timid  fauna, 
such  as  the  antelope,  and  even  snakes  and  insects. 
The  Fan  eat  stink-fish  (dried-fish),  snails,  snakes, 
and  a  big  maggot  like  the  pupae  of  the  rhinoceros 
beetle ;  and  still  not  satisfied  they  eat  human  flesh. 
In  this  zone,  as  elsewhere  in  Central  Africa,  says 
Stanley,  it  is  quite  common  for  the  natives  to  rush 
upon  their  enemies  crying  **meat!  meat!''^*^  A 
Belgian  missionary  of  the  Upper  Congo  wrote  that, 
*^on  a  market  day,  it  is  customary  to  take  prisoners 
of  war  up  and  down  with  marks  on  their  naked 
bodies,  showing  the  parts  the  purchasers  have  se- 

seHahn,  Edward,  p.  462. 

27  "Travels  in  West  Africa/*  p.  29. 

28  Overbergh,  p.  99. 

29  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  151. 
so  «  Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  201. 


162 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


lected,  as  soon  as  the  bodies  are  cut  up.  .  .  .  On^ 
case  is  mentioned  in  which  no  purchaser  could  be 
found  for  the  man's  head,  and  the  buyers  of  the  arms 
and  legs  became  impatient,  and  these  were  accord- 
ingly cut  off,  and  the  vender  proceeded  with  his 
search  for  a  purchaser  of  the  head.*'^^  Tribes  on 
the  Mubangi  River  used  to  breed  slaves  for  the  food- 
market.22  The  Fan  often  preserve  some  part  of  the 
people  they  have  eaten  as  a  memento.  Miss  Kingsley 
found  in  a  hut,  stinking  and  hanging  up  in  a  bag, 
three  big  toes,  four  eyes,  two  ears,  and  other  parts  of 
the  human  frame.^^  A  Fan  will  eat  his  next  door 
neighbor's  relations,  and  sell  his  own  deceased  to  his 
next-door  neighbor  in  return,  but  he  does  not  buy 
slaves  and  fatten  them  up  for  his  table  as  some  of  the 
Middle  Congo  tribes  do.''^* 

The  Fan  make  a  variety  of  rude  pottery  in  the 
shape  of  cooking  pots,  palm-wine  bottles,  pipes,  etc. 
They  also  make  fish-hooks  of  bamboo,  string  made 
of  pineapple  fiber,  fiber-plaited  jugs,  baskets  and 
nets.  They  make  excellent  canoes,  and  do  good 
work  in  iron,  manufacturing  knives,  axes,  spades 
and  ornamental  rings.^^ 

Local  trade  is  carried  on  at  market  towns  on  fixed 
days  of  the  week,  and  attended  by  pretty  much  all 

31  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  I,  p.  879. 

32  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo/'  II,  p.  G86. 

33  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  212. 

34  Ihid.,  p.  299. 

35  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  pp.  258,  259,  260;  Bennett, 
pp.  76,  83. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  163 


of  the  population.^^  Transactions  are  made  by 
barter,  cowry  shells  and  beads.^^  Most  natives 
are  natural  traders.  Formerly  ivory  and  slaves 
were  the  chief  articles  of  commerce,  but  they  are 
now  superseded  by  rubber  and  palm-oil. 

Many  lines  of  steam  launches  serve  commerce  on 
the  rivers,  and  several  railroads,  besides  the  Congo, 
connect  the  coast  and  the  interior.  These,  however, 
concern  mostly  the  white  man.  So  far  as  the  na- 
tives are  concerned  the  highways  are  mostly  goat 
tracks,  and  the  transportation  is  by  porters  and 
canoes.  In  moving  from  one  place  to  another  a 
family  needs  no  van.  The  wives  just  pick  up  the 
stools  and  knives,  and  the  cooking  pots,  and  the 
box  (for  clothes),  and  the  children  toddle  along  with 
the  calabashes.  In  districts  of  much  bush,  tun- 
nels have  to  be  cut  for  the  carriers. 

Generally  the  women  do  all  of  the  work  except 
the  hunting.  They  act  as  porters,  carrying  goods 
to  market  in  baskets  balanced  on  their  heads.  The 
men  sometimes  help  to  clear  the  fields,  but  the  work 
of  cultivation  is  left  to  the  women.^^  The  industrial 
limitations  of  the  Fan  are  due  to  the  bounty  of  na- 
ture, on  the  one  hand,  which  renders  economic  de- 
velopment unnecessary,  and  on  the  other  hand,  to 
the  ease  of  moving  from  place  to  place,  thanks  to 
the  absence  of  any  insuperable  geographical  bar- 

36  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  290. 

37  Johnston,  "George  GrenfeU  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  796  j  Milligan, 
p.  141. 

88  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  99. 

89  Overbergh,  p.  68, 


164  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


riers.  A  territory  witliout  natural  boundaries,  says 
Semple,  obviates  the  necessity  of  applying  more 
work  and  more  intelligence  to  tlie  old  area.  Hence 
dispersion  takes  the  place  of  intensification  of  in- 
dustry."*^ 

Slavebolding  scarcely  exists  among  tbe  Fan  or 
other  nomadic  hunters  of  this  zone.  Among  the 
more  settled  populations,  engaged  somewhat  in 
trade  and  agriculture,  slaves  may  be  found,  but  they 
are  not  relatively  numerous,  for  the  reason  that 
there  is  no  regular  work  for  them.  Since  the  re- 
cent exploitation  of  the  country  by  the  white  man 
there  has  developed  a  considerable  wage-class. 
Formerly  war-captives  were  either  eaten  or  sold. 
The  chief  often  bought  children  from  his  own  sub- 
jects in  times  of  famine,  and  would  resell  them  to 
the  slave  trader  who  came  around  periodically  with 
his  caravan  of  cloth,  beads,  rum  and  trinkets.*^ 
Among  some  of  the  settled  tribes,  who  use  slaves  to 
cultivate  the  soil,  we  see  the  transition  from  the 
wandering  life  to  a  regular  social  order  where  pro- 
duction is  systematic.  Without  slavery  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  this  transition  could  have  been  made. 
Slavery,  therefore,  as  Sumner  remarks,  ^4s  a  part 
of  the  discipline  by  which  the  human  race  has  learned 
how  to  carry  on  the  industrial  organization."*- 
Dealey  regards  primitive  slavery  as  a  benevolent 
institution,  because  it  arose  as  a  substitute  for  can- 
nibalism, massacre  and  torture.*^ 


40  Page  213. 
*iPr6ville,  p.  184. 


42  "Folkways,"  p.  263. 
4S  "Sociology,"  p.  101. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  BANTUS  OF  THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  (cOfltiflUed) 

Family  Life. — Marriage  is  often  by  capture,  ^  but 

is  more  generally  effected  by  gifts  to  the  girPs  par- 
ents.^ For  a  fine  Bangala  girl  the  price  is  '  *  two  or 
three  slaves,  two  or  three  necklaces  of  beads,  and  two 
or  three  empty  bottles."^  Near  the  West  Coast 
girls  of  rare  qualities,  according  to  Milligan,  some- 
times command  an  exorbitant  price,  in  some  cases 
amounting  to  ten  goats,  five  sheep,  five  guns,  twenty 
empty  trade-boxes,  one  hundred  heads  of  tobacco, 
ten  hats,  ten  looking-glasses,  five  blankets,  five  pair 
of  trousers,  two  dozen  plates,  fifty  dollars'  worth  of 
calico,  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  rum,  one  chair  and  one 
cat.  Men  secure  this  dowry  sometimes  by  the  sale 
of  a  sister.  Very  young  girls  or  infants  are  less  ex- 
pensive^ and  the  marriage  of  these  is  frequent.^ 

As  a  rule  marriage  is  not  permitted  between  men 
and  women  of  the  same  clan,  and  the  Bulu  do  not 

1  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo/'  II,  p.  676. 

2  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  289. 

3  Overbergh,  p.  213. 

4  Milligan,  pp.  225,  227,  230. 

8  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  289;  Overbergh,  p.  215;  Kingsley,  "Travels  in 
West  Africa,"  p.  165. 

165 


166  THE  NEGRO  EACES 


permit  it  witliin  tlie  village.^  A  Fan  is  obliged  to 
marry  into  his  own  clan  as  no  other  clan  is  handy 
to  marry  into,  and,  in  villages  in  touch  with  other 
clans,  he  has  little  chance  of  getting  a  cheap  lady. 
All  tribes  look  down  on  the  Fans  and  they  on  all 
others.  The  Fans  marry  freely  with  people  who 
closely  resemble  them,  for  example,  the  Bakele  to 
the  southeast^ 

Polygamy  is  practiced  by  all  the  men  who  can  af- 
ford it,  but  most  men  are  able  to  possess  only  one 
wife.^  The  Fan,  says  Miss  Kingsley,  acquires  rub- 
ber and  buys  a  **good  tough  widow  lady  (they  are 
cheap),  who  knows  the  lore  of  trade  and  art  of 
adultery,  and  later  buys  younger  wives  to  the  num- 
ber of  six  or  seven."  He  settles  down  on  an  estate, 
and  receives  a  percentage  on  the  ivory  trade.^  The 
chiefs  everywhere  possess  several  wives. Before 
marriage  a  girl  bestows  her  favors  pretty  freely.^^ 

The  houses  occupied  by  most  of  the  families  in 
this  zone  are  made  of  banana  leaves,^-  circular  in 
form,  with  conical  roof,  but  houses  of  the  rectangular 
shape  are  common  in  the  west.  The  Fan  houses  are 
of  this  latter  kind,  constructed  of  bark,  fifteen  feet 
long,  ten  wide  and  six  high,  and  arranged  along  a 

eMilligan,  p.  220;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo/* 
p.  676. 

7  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  256. 

sMilligan,  p.  226. 

»  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  258. 

10  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  676. 

11  Bennett,  p.  70. 

12  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  752. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  167 


single  street,  closed  at  either  end  by  a  guard-house.^^ 
A  special  house  is  built  in  the  middle  of  the  town 
where  goats  are  herded  at  night  as  a  protection 
against  leopards. The  surroundings  of  the  Fan 
home  are  exceedingly  filthy.  One  sees  lying  about, 
the  remains  of  a  crocodile  eaten  week  before  last, 
and  piles  of  fish  offal,  and  the  decomposing  rem- 
nants of  the  elephant,  hippopotamus,  etc.^^  The  fur- 
niture most  common  consists  only  of  a  bed  of  pole 
framework,  and  several  wooden  pillows.  A  fire  is 
built  in  the  center  of  the  house,  and  the  smoke 
escapes  through  the  openings  between  the  roof  and 
the  wall.  16 

The  support  of  the  family  devolves  mostly  upon 
the  women,  but  in  some  tribes  the  men  assist.  A 
man  of  the  Fan  tribe,  for  instance,  will  chop  wood, 
carry  the  baby,  help  build  houses,  weave  baskets 
and  make  pottery.^^ 

Affection  between  husband  and  wife  in  this  zone 
is  about  as  feeble  as  anywhere  in  the  world.  In- 
trigue and  infidelity  are  the  occasions  of  frequent 
palavers.i^  The  wife  is  an  artist  in  the  use  of 
poison,^^  and,  for  this  or  some  other  reason,  the 
husband  disdains  to  eat  with  her.  He  lends  his  wife 
to  strangers,  and  in  case  of  his  illness  he  will  ask  a 

13  Bennett,  p.  72;  Milligan,  p.  220. 

14  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  213. 
i5/6t(Z.,  p.  188, 

16  Milligan,  p.  221. 

17  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  259. 

18  Bennett,  p.  70. 

19  Milligan,  p.  149. 


168  THE  NEGKO  EACES 


friend  to  assume  Ms  marital  relations.  Husbands 
and  wives  often  conspire  together  to  tempt  men  to 
adultery.  Custom  requires  the  husband  and  wife 
to  live  apart  during  the  lactation  period,  but  both 
of  them  then  intrigue  with  others.^^ 

Parental  love  is  ardent  but  of  short  duration.^^ 
Abortion  is  common,  and  children  are  often  weaned 
rapidly  for  the  purpose  of  killing  them.^^  A  woman 
rarely  has  more  than  two  or  three  living  children.^^ 
Children  sometimes  show  a  lasting  love  for  their 
mother,  but  generally  their  regard  for  either  parent 
is  slight.  On  account  of  the  hunting  and  fighting, 
boys  are  more  under  the  control  of  the  chief  than  of 
the  parents.  Old  men  are  seldom  met  with.  They 
are  either  sacrificed  in  witchcraft  proceedings,  or 
allowed  to  starve  when  unable  to  provide  for  them- 
selves.^^ 

Generally  inheritance  is  in  the  female  line,  i.  e.,  the 
property  goes  to  the  brothers  or  sisters.^^  In 
some  cases  a  man's  estate  goes  to  his  maternal  un- 
cle. In  the  northern  bend  of  the  Congo  the  property 
of  a  chief  or  freeman  goes  to  his  youngest  son, 
and,  under  certain  circumstances,  to  the  eldest.^^ 

Political  Life. — ^Although  the  people  of  this  zone 

20  Milligan,  pp.  224,  227,  232. 
2i76j<7.,  p.  223. 

22  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  671. 

23  Overbergh,  p.  201. 

24  Ward,  p.  290. 

25  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  259 ;  Johnston,  "George 
Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  697. 

26  Johnston,  Ibid.,  p.  699. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  169 


subsist  principally  upon  vegetation,  they  do  not  live 
scattered  as  individual  families,  but  in  villages.  The 
abundant  food-supply  permits  this  concentration. 
Along  the  river  courses  the  villages  have  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  inhabitants,^^  and  in  the  more  ele- 
vated districts,  where  the  banana  grows  to  better 
advantage,  the  population  of  a  village  runs  up  to 
two  thousand.^^  The  difficulties  of  communication 
hinder  confederation  or  effective  political  control, 
so  that  in  this  zone  the  kingdoms,  except  in  a  few 
instances,  are  small.-^  There  is  often  a  lack  of  in- 
tegration among  members  of  the  same  tribe.^^ 
Eiverain  people  know  nothing  of  the  country  ten 
miles  inland.  Life  here  is  largely  a  battle  of  indi- 
vidual w^ith  individual.^  ^  Tribal  groups  are  held  to- 
gether by  common  totem  rather  than  by  mutual 
interest.  The  totem,  says  Tylor,  has  a  great  power 
*4n  consolidating  clans,  and  allying  them  together 
within  the  larger  circle  of  the  tribe. ' '  While  there 
is  considerable  pressure  of  immigration  from  the 
zones  north  and  south,  it  comes  in  the  form  of  small 
unobtrusive  bands,  and  does  not  excite  a  cooperative 
defensive   movement.    The    forests,    rivers  and 

27  Milligan,  p.  220. 
28Ratzel,  III,  p.  112. 

29  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  700 ;  Boshart, 
p.  101. 

30  Wolf,  p.  236;  Milligan,  p.  233. 

31  Schrader,  "Echanges  d'activit4  entre  la  terre  et  Thomnie." 
Revue  mensuelle  de  Vecole  d'a/nthropologie,  VT,  p.  25. 

32  "Remarks  on  Totemism,"  Jour.  Anthropological  Institute^.  I, 
n.  s.,  p.  148. 


170  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


.swamps  furnish  a  large  measure  of  natural  fortifi- 
cation. The  same  difficulties  that  impede  invasion 
also  serve  to  check  aggression  on  a  large  scale. 
There  is,  therefore,  no  development  of  an  efficient 
military  system,  and  no  foreign  conquests.^^  The 
Fan  protect  their  villages  by  poisoned  splinters  of 
reed  stuck  in  the  ground  or  in  the  forest  streams.^^ 
Government  here  is  little  above  the  primary 
group  dominated  by  the  male,  but,  as  rudimentary 
as  it  is,  it  constitutes  a  discipline  for  its  members, 
and  leads  to  **that  power  of  self-control  and  law- 
abidingness  which  was  the  essential  condition  of  the 
progress  of  social  organization."^^  Such  govern- 
ment as  exists  probably  arose  from  leadership  in  the 
chase.  The  chief,  being  youthful  and  lacking  in  wis- 
dom, knows  no  discipline  save  that  of  tyranny. 
Stealing  of  women  is  a  piime  cause  of  war,^^  and 
when  that  event  happens  the  chief  sounds  the  same 
drum  that  summons  the  men  to  the  hunt,  and  the 
signal  is  repeated  from  village  to  village.^^  The 
nomadic  life,  due  to  the  caprice  of  the  game  and 
the  exhaustion  of  the  patches  of  cultivated  ground, 
renders  the  kingdoms  ephemeral  and  in  a  state  of 
constant  clash  and  disintegration.  The  kingdoms 
dissolve  by  dispersion  and  incursion  made  easy  by 
the  wide  interstices  between  \dllages.  **The  rapid 
decline  of  the  Indian  race  in  America  before  the  ad- 
vancing whites,"  says  Semple,  ^'was  due  chiefly  to 

33  Ratzel.  Ill,  pp.  47,  136.  se  Milligan,  p.  238. 

S4/&t£f.,  II,  p.  398.  37  Pr6%nlle,  p.  181. 

35McDougall,  p.  286. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  171 


the  division  of  the  savages  into  small  groups,  scat- 
tered sparsely  over  a  wide  territory.''^* 

The  machinery  of  governments  in  this  zone  is, 
therefore,  very  imperfectly  organized.  Personal 
injuries  are  left  to  private  revenge,^^  and  violence 
is  so  common  that  all  men  go  armed.^^  Each  citizen 
carries  on  his  left  side  a  long  two-edged  sword- 
knife,  sheathed  in  a  python  skin  and  suspended  from 
a  shoulder  strap  of  leopard  or  monkey-skin.'*^  Un- 
der these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  old 
men  should  be  scarce.^ ^  Among  the  Kamerun  tribes 
a  chief  does  not  consider  himself  installed  until  he 
has  killed  one  or  more  men,  and  distributed  parts 
of  their  bodies  among  his  kin  and  neighboring 
chief s.^^  In  case  the  government  takes  notice  of 
an  injury,  the  trial  is  before  the  chief  and  council  of 
elders  at  the  palaver  house  at  the  end  of  the  street, 
and  the  decisions  are  often  deteimined  by  ordeal  or 
other  device  of  chance.^^  Secret  societies,  very 
common  in  this  part  of  Africa,  are  the  right  hand  of 
government — a  discipline  of  terror  to  keep  women, 
children  and  slaves  under  subjection.  The  head  of 
each  of  these  societies  is  a  magician  who  can  dis- 
cover witches  or  other  culprits  by  his  power  of  vi- 

38  Page  80. 

39  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  231. 

40  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  291. 
4iMilligan,  p.  134. 

42  Bennett,  p.  70. 

43  Ratzel,  III,  p.  131. 

44  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  688;  Milli- 
gan,  p.  221. 


172  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


sion  or  dreaming.  Wlien  he  points  to  the  one  lie  re- 
gards as  guilty  the  verdict  is  arrived  at  by  ordeal.^^ 
Secret  societies  probably  originated  from  the  too 
wide  expansion  of  the  clan,  and  the  distribution  of 
its  members  in  localities  separated  from  each  other 
by  geographical  barriers.  The  clan  or  totem  cere- 
monies of  initiation,  etc.,  were  preserved  by  the  iso- 
lated groups,  and  merged  into  a  secret  society  to  rule 
over  those  not  belonging  in  the  kinship  group  but 
belonging  to  the  territory.^^  In  some  localities  each 
village  is  held  responsible  for  a  wrong  committed 
by  any  of  its  members.^^ 

Hereditary  chieftainship  is  exceptional,  but  where 
it  exists  the  succession  usually  goes  to  the  eldest  son 
of  the  chief's  sister.^^ 

Religious  Life. — The  religion  of  this  zone  is  a  mix- 
ture of  fetichism  and  polytheism.  In  the  larger 
villages  there  are  a  few  common  gods,  but  in  most 
localities  the  phenomena  of  nature  are  ruled  by  mul- 
titudes of  spirits  that  have  no  general  recognition.*^ 
In  most  localities  the  people  do  not  conceive  that 
their  life  depends  upon  the  distant  and  uncontrol- 
lable forces  of  nature,  as  the  sun,  moon,  the  clouds, 
and  overflow  of  rivers,  but  upon  the  forces  close  at 
hand,  such  as  those  which  govern  the  movement  of 
game,  the  behavior  of  dangerous  beasts,  reptiles,  in- 
sects, the  ripening  of  fruits,  berries  and  vegetables. 
The  important  deities,  therefore,  are  also  near  at 

4BMinigan,  p.  234.  *8Ward,  Herbert,  p.  290. 

46Marett,  pp.  177,  178.  Bennett,  p.  85j  Overbergh,  p.  269. 

47Milligan,  p.  236. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  173 


hand  instead  of  being  far  away  in  the  sky,  as  is  gen- 
erally the  case  among  pastoral  and  agricultural  peo- 
ple. Some  tribes  have  a  sky  god — a  sort  of  supreme 
being,  but  he  is  too  far  off  to  care  for  humanity,  and 
he  leaves  things  pretty  much  to  a  host  of  mundane 
spirits  who  act  with  a  will  of  their  own.^^  The  latter 
are  mostly  malevolent  or  mischievous.  They  are 
human,  however,  and  can  be  coaxed  into  having 
creditable  feelings  like  generosity  and  gratitude,  but 
you  can't  trust  them.^^  The  reason  that  led  the 
primitive  man  to  give  attention  first  to  the  wicked 
spirits  was  that  he,  *'like  ourselves,  was  apt  to  accept 
without  wonder,  without  pondering  and  reasoning 
upon  them,  the  beneficent  processes  of  nature,  the 
gentle  rain,  the  light  and  warmth  of  the  sun,  the  flow- 
ing of  the  river,  the  healthy  growth  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life,  but  that  his  wonder  was  especially 
aroused  by  those  things  and  events  which  excited  also 
his  fear,  by  disease  and  death,  pestilence  and  famine, 
storm  and  flood,  lightning  and  thunder,  and  the  pow- 
erful beasts  of  prey.'' 

These  multitudinous  spirits  have  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  almost  every  transaction  of  life.  They  are 
controlled  largely  by  charms  whose  power  is,  in  fact, 
that  of  a  counteracting  spirit.  A  good  supply  of 
charms  is  consequently  necessary  for  hunting,  fish- 
ing, buying,  planting,  etc.  Certain  charms,  for  in- 
stance, will  protect  you  from  being  seen  by  an  ele- 

00  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  pp.  635,  636. 

51  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Airica,"  p.  299. 

52  McDougall,  p.  304. 


174  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


phant.^^  Bells  and  rattles  will  scare  away  snakes 
when  you  are  in  the  forest.^^  Other  charms  enable 
you  to  keep  in  the  right  path,  to  see  things  in  the 
forest,^^  help  you  in  love-making,  etc.'^^  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  rain-doctor  is  not  needed  in  this 
zone.  Having  no  rain  to  make,  the  magic-man  can 
devote  all  of  his  time  to  making  charms,  and  to  con- 
juring the  malfeasant  spirits. 

The  peopling  of  the  universe  with  spooks  is  due 
primarily  to  the  inability  of  the  savage  to  compre- 
hend death  as  a  natural  fact.  The  most  plausible 
explanation  to  the  savage  is  that  the  spirit,  which 
once  animated  the  body,  has  escaped,  or  been  driven 
or  coaxed  away  by  some  other  spirit.  The  spirit  of 
the  dead  man,  therefore,  must  continue  to  live.  It  is 
seen  in  dreams,  and  its  voice  is  heard  in  strange 
sounds. 

The  attitude  towards  these  spirits  is  that  of  fear, 
and  to  propitiate  them  food  and  drink  are  offered. 
This  attention  to  the  disembodied  spirits  leads  to 
ancestor  worship,  though  in  its  first  stages  it  is 
characterized  by  fear  of  ancestors  and  not  venera- 
tion for  them.  There  are  probably  three  stages  in 
the  development  of  ancestor  worship.  First,  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  are  feared  and  coaxed  to  stay 
away.^^    According  to  Miss  Kingsley,  the  prayers  of 

53Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  304. 
B4/6tU,  p'  189. 
5^  Ibid.,  p.  338. 
56/5iU,  p.  304. 

67  Milligan,  "The  Fetish  Folk  of  West  Africa,"  p.  151. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  175 


the  people  of  this  zone  in  substance  say,  *  ^  Go  away, 
we  don't  want  you."  Second,  an  effort  is  made  to 
manipulate  the  spirits  for  some  advantage.  Ac- 
cording to  Milligan,  some  of  the  Congo  tribes  mani- 
fest an  expectation  of  gain  from  their  ancestors, 
but  not  a  love  for  them.^^  The  skull  of  the  dead, 
says  Frobenius,  is  not  a  memento  mori  of  the  an- 
cestor, but  a  mere  magic  power.^*^  Third,  the  spirits 
are  venerated.  This  last  stage  is  not  reached  any- 
where in  Negro  Africa.  Man  is  not  very  dependable 
in  life,  and  his  spirit  is  even  less  so  because  it  is  in- 
visible. It  is  subject  to  bad  influences,  and  may  be- 
come positively  vicious. 

If  the  spirits  of  men  live  after  them,  so  also  the 
spirits  of  animals,  and  either  may  come  back  to  life 
in  the  form  of  another  man  or  beast.^^  Since  the 
spirit  in  a  man  lives  after  he  is  dead,  why  may  it  not 
sometimes  come  out  of  a  man  while  he  is  still  alive, 
— for  example,  when  he  is  dreaming!  Then  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  and  the  living  have  a  general 
mix-up  and  cause  trouble.^-  It  is  possible,  says 
Johnston,  *'for  spirits  of  dead  or  living  men  to  enter 
the  bodies  of  buffaloes,  leopards  or  crocodiles,  in 
order  that  they  may  inflict  injuries  on  their  ene- 
mies. ' '  Wilkin  thinks  that  transmigration  of  souls 
is  the  link  connecting  ancestor  worship  with  to- 
es "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  299. 

59  Page  253. 

60  "Die  bildende  Kunst,"  p.  4. 

61  Milligan,  p.  255. 

62  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  642. 

63  Ibid,,  p.  632. 


176  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


temism.  When  the  sonl  of  man  comes  back  in  a 
wolf,  for  instance,  the  man's  descendants  in  the 
course  of  time  naturally  come  to  believe  that  they 
originated  from  the  wolf,  and  they  all  thus  become 
bound  together  by  ties  of  totem  kinship.^^  Frazer  is 
of  opinion  that  totemism  grew  out  of  an  attempt  to 
explain  paternity  before  man  learned  of  the  part 
played  by  him  in  generation. 

Disease  and  death  are  due  to  evil  spirits,  or 
witches  who  are  persons  in  whom  a  malignant  spirit 
has  taken  lodgment.^^  In  case  of  a  death  the  people 
rush  into  the  streets,  **with  wild  staring  eyes,  utter- 
ing imprecations  and  demanding  blood. '  *  The  witch- 
doctor is  summoned,  and  indicates  the  person  re- 
sponsible for  the  death.  The  accused  must  pay 
damages  to  the  relatives  of  the  deceased,  or  face  a 
trial  by  ordeal.  A  concoction  is  administered  to  him 
or  her  causing  vertigo.  If  the  victim  falls  it  is  a  sign 
of  guilt,  and  the  bystanders  at  once  cut  the  body  to 
pieces.^^  In  some  cases  the  penalty  is  mutilation, 
or  tying  to  a  stake  at  low  tide.^^  The  Upper  Ogowe 
people  sometimes  beat  a  corpse  to  a  pulp  to  destroy 
an  incarcerated  spirit.^^  Even  after  the  death  of  a 
cow  or  goat  the  witch-doctor  is  sometimes  con- 
sulted.^^   Witches  may  inflict  injuries  in  very  mys- 

«*  Tylor,  "Remarks  on  Totemism,"  Jour.  Anthropological  Institute, 
n.  8.  vol.  I,  p.  147. 

66  Bennett,  p.  95 ;  Milligan,  p.  268. 
66Milligan,  p.  234. 

67  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  316. 
68/6{(Z.,  p.  330. 

69  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  n.  s.  VIII,  p.  160. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  177 


terious  ways.  They  may  obtain  power  over  an 
enemy  by  possessing  a  bit  of  bis  hair  or  finger 
nail.'^'^ 

The  medicine  man  is  consulted  in  all  cases  of  sick- 
ness, and  his  method  is,  first,  protective  or  prophy- 
lactic, i.  e.,  making  charms  to  keep  away  evil.  The 
charm  or  fetich  is  a  kind  of  magic  object  employed 
to  frighten  off  obnoxious  men  and  beasts.  If  a  man 
steal  anything  where  a  fetich  is  placed  it  will  enter 
into  him,  and  cause  him  to  swell  up  and  bust."^^ 
The  second  method  of  the  medicine  man  is  thera- 
peutic, i.  e.,  administering  drugs,  and  practicing 
magic  rites  to  exorcise  the  demon  of  disease.  His 
method  is  experimental,  like  that  of  the  European 
physician,  and  in  his  way  he  has  blazed  the  path  of 
real  medical  science."^ ^ 

According  to  Spencer,  the  profession  of  the  phi- 
losopher, judge,  scientist,  etc.,  arose  from  the  primi- 
tive medicine  man.  This  theory  is  plausible  but 
seems  to  be  of  doubtful  validity.  While  the  medi- 
cine man  may  have  taken  the  lead  in  these  fields  of 
knowledge,  he  was  not  alone  concerned  in  them.  In 
this  connection  Thomas  remarks,  that  **the  first 
form  of  philosophy  is  the  mythology  growing  out 
of  the  attempt  of  primitive  man  to  understand  such 
phenomena  as  echoes,  clouds,  stars,  thunder,  wind, 
shadows,  dreams,  etc.  The  creation  of  a  mythology 
is  not  the  work  of  a  medicine  man  alone,  but  the 
work  of  the  social  mind  in  general.  Among  the 
first  forms  of  science  are  the  number,  time  and 

70  Milligan,  p.  263.       7i  Milligan,  p.  262.      72  Bordier,  p.  54. 


178 


THE  NEGEO  RACES 


space  conceptions,  and  a  vague  body  of  experimen- 
tal knowledge  growing  out  of  the  general  activities 
of  the  group  or  the  individuals  of  the  group,  and  es- 
sential to  the  control  of  these  activities,  and  the 
development  of  new  and  more  serviceable  habits. 
The  first  decision  of  cases  was  by  old  men,  and  later 
by  men  in  authority,  particularly  those  to  whom 
preeminent  ability,  particularly  in  war,  gave  un- 
common authority;  and  these  were  first  of  all  rulers 
rather  than  priests/ ' ''^^ 

The  great  powers  attributed  to  charms,  and  to  all 
animate  and  inanimate  objects,  indicate  that  the 
people  of  this  zone  rank  both  kinds  of  objects  on  a 
level  with  themselves.  And  as  Lang  suggests,  per- 
haps the  irrational  element  in  the  myths  of  civilized 
people  is  the  survival  of  an  epoch  in  which  nature 
occupied  this  exalted  estimation.'^^  According  to 
some  African  legends,  all  animals  were  once  men 
who  were  turned  into  beasts  because  they  refused 
to  work."^^ 

The  wicked  spirits  are  so  numerous  and  busy  in 
this  zone  that  the  people  cannot  afford  to  employ  a 
medicine  man  every  time  one  of  them  becomes  ha- 
rassing. So,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  the  people  try 
to  pacify  the  spirits  by  offering  them  a  place  to  dwell 
and  some  food  and  drink.  An  image  (mask)  or 
idol  is,  therefore,  made  as  a  lodging  place,  and  near 

73  "Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  301. 

74  "Myth,  Ritual  and  Religion,"  p.  41. 
76  Richter,  p.  180. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  179 


it  is  placed  a  supply  of  nourishment.  These  idols 
are  almost  as  thick  as  the  forestJ^ 

To  propitiate  the  gods  human  sacrifices  are  some- 
times offered,  but  more  commonly  such  sacrifices  are 
made  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  attendants  for 
the  deceased  in  the  other  worldJ^  They  are  not 
so  common  as  among  the  Nigritians  of  the  west- 
ern part  of  this  zone,  probably  because  the  smaller 
and  more  nomadic  groups  do  not  develop  that  de- 
gree of  fear  which  leads  to  such  practices.  The 
sense  of  fear  grows  by  contagion  of  the  crowd.  A 
striking  difference  is  found  in  the  fear  element 
in  the  superstitions  of  the  Fan,  and  in  those  of 
the  more  sedentary  people  living  in  the  large 
villages.  *  *  The  Fans, ' '  says  Miss  Kingsley,  *  *  though 
surrounded  by  intensely  superstitious  tribes,  are  re- 
markably free  from  superstition  themselves,  taking 
little  or  no  interest  in  speculative  matters  except 
to  get  charms  to  make  them  invisible  to  the  ele- 
phant,'' etc."^^  An  extreme  attention  to  the  super- 
natural is  never  found  among  people  like  the  Fan 
who  are  mostly  nomadic  hunters  and  have  to  strug- 
gle and  overcome  nature.  Another  explanation  of 
the  more  rational  conceptions  of  the  Fan  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  the 
Gallas  of  the  eastern  plateau  where  superstition  is 
less  mixed  with  terror. 

76  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  288;  Milligan,  p.  249;  Bennett,  p.  86;  John- 
ston, "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  637. 
7T0verbergh,  p.  253. 
78  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  338. 


180  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


The  mytlis  of  the  people  of  this  zone  pertain  to 
familiar  and  near  objects  with  which  the  people  have 
to  cope.  Remote  phenomena  such  as  the  sky,  the 
snn  and  moon,  are  of  little  concern.  Hunting  life 
is  nowhere  characterized  by  the  cosmogonic  myth 
but  by  the  myth  pertaining  to  plant  and  animal.'^ 

The  daily  activities  of  the  Fan  are  inextricably 
entangled  with  their  religion,  i.  e.,  with  their  spirit 
world;  and  this  fact  seems  to  confirm  the  view  of 
McDougall  that  in  its  beginning  religion  and  mor- 
ality are  inseparable.  *'For  the  essence  of  moral 
conduct,''  says  he,  ^4s  the  performance  of  social 
duty,  the  duty  prescribed  by  society,  as  opposed  to 
the  mere  following  of  the  promptings  of  egoistic 
impulses.  If  we  define  moral  conduct  in  the  broad 
sense,  and  this  is  the  only  satisfactory  definition  of 
it,  then,  no  matter  how  grotesque  and,  from  our 
point  of  view,  how  immoral  the  prescribed  codes  of 
conduct  of  the  societies  may  appear  to  be,  we  must 
admit  conformity  to  the  code  to  be  moral  conduct; 
and  we  must  admit  that  religion  from  its  crude  be- 
ginnings was  bound  up  with  morality  in  some  such 
way  as  we  have  briefly  sketched;  that  the  two 
things,  religion  and  morality,  were  not  at  first  sepa- 
rate and  later  fused  together;  but  that  they  were 
always  intimately  related,  and  have  reciprocally 
acted  and  reacted  upon  one  another  throughout  the 
course  of  their  evolution. ' '      In  Volume  I  of  this 

79  Dewey,  "Interpretation  of  the  Savage  ^lind/'  quoted  in  Thomas* 
"Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  183. 

80  Page  313. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  181 


series  the  author  gives  his  reasons  for  the  belief 
that  religion  and  morals  develop  together.^  ^ 

Notions  about  the  after  life  in  this  zone  are  vague. 
All  tribes,  however,  believe  in  some  kind  of  future 
existence.  Some  of  the  Kamerun  tribes  think  that 
it  takes  nine  days  for  the  soul  of  the  deceased  to 
reach  the  place  of  eternal  rest,  and  consequently 
the  funeral  is  not  held  until  the  lapse  of  that  time.^^ 
Some  souls  go  to  the  sky,  some  to  a  dark  forest,  and 
some  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.^^ 

81  Page  319.    Read  on  this  question  Marett,  pp.  206,  213. 
82Ratzel,  II,  p.  373. 

88  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  643. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 


THE  BANTUS  OP  THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  {COflcluded) 

Ceremonial  Life. — Ceremonies  are  not  Mghly  de- 
veloped in  this  part  of  the  banana  zone,  on  account 
of  the  relative  smallness  of  the  groups,  and  the  great 
attention  to  hunting.  Boys  on  attaining  their  ma- 
turity go  through  the  ceremony  of  initiation.^ 
Strangers  entering  into  a  community  must  submit 
to  the  ceremony  of  blood-brotherhood  before  they 
can  be  considered  friends.^  native  offering  one 
drink  or  food  always  tastes  it  first  himself  in  your 
presence  to  show  that  it  is  not  poisoned.''^  Some 
of  the  social  forms  are  a  little  odd.  For  instance, 
describing  the  ceremony  of  greeting  among  the  Fan, 
Miss  Kingsley  says  that  a  native  woman  ^Hook  my 
hand  in  her  two,  turned  it  palm  up  and  spat  in  if  * 
This  spitting  formality  obtains  over  a  wide  area  in 
Central  and  Eastern  Africa.  The  most  elaborate 
and  spectacular  display  in  this  zone  is  found  in  con- 
nection with  the  many  secret  societies.  They  oper- 
ate to  **reenforce  the  functions  of  control,''  or 

1  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  665. 

2  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  291. 
8  Milligan,  p.  270. 

*  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  227. 

182 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  183 


rather  to  take  the  place  of  an  orderly  government.^ 
Funerals  excite  the  people  to  a  high,  degree  of 
emotion,  and  lead  to  more  or  less  impressive  and 
prolonged  ceremony.  In  some  villages,  after  the 
burial  of  a  husband,  the  widow  is  driven  through 
fire  and  flagellation,  which  ceremony  was  originally 
designed  to  free  her  from  the  ghost  of  her  late  hus- 
band. 

.ffisthetic  Life. — The  practice  of  body  mutilation 
for  aesthetic  or  other  purpose  is  wide-spread  in  this 
zone.  For  instance,  the  Fan  and  many  tribes  of  the 
Congo  file  to  a  point  their  incisor  teeth.^  Tattooing 
is  universal.  Sometimes  it  serves  as  a  tribal  mark, 
and  again  only  as  a  decoration.^  In  some  tribes  only 
the  chiefs  tattoo.  A  practice  also  common  among 
the  chiefs  is  that  of  wearing  long  nails  as  a  mark  of 
superiority.^  The  Dwallas  pull  out  their  eyelashes 
which  they  think  sharpens  their  vision.  Piercing 
the  ears  for  pendants  is  a  popular  fashion^  and 
women  often  wear  a  bamboo  or  porcupine  quill  pin 
in  the  cartilage  of  the  nose.^^  The  human  body,  not 
needing  a  protective  dress,  is  used  as  a  frame  for 
hanging  any  kind  of  shining  object,  or  as  a  back- 
ground for  artistic  touches  of  the  paint-brush. 
Women  wear  necklaces  of  gorilla  teeth,  and  loads  of 

6  Webster,  p.  107. 

eRatzel,  III,  pp.  136,  138;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the 
Congo,"  II,  p.  571. 

7  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  380. 

8  Ibid.y  p.  170. 

»  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  572. 
10  Bennett,  p.  72. 


184  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


brass  bracelets  and  armlets.^ ^  The  wife  of  a  Ban- 
gala  chief,  Upper  Congo,  once  wore  a  brass  collar 
weighing  twenty-five  pounds.^^  The  women  some- 
times wear  girdles  of  woven  grass  but  rarely  wear 
flowers.^^  Painting  the  body  is  common  in  the 
Congo  and  elsewhere,  the  favorite  color  being  ver- 
milion or  red.^* 

Barring  a  few  tribes,  who  go  entirely  naked  (the 
Bopoto  for  instance),  the  dress  of  the  people  of  this 
zone  consists  of  bark-cloth  or  skins.^^  In  some  lo- 
calities, while  the  men  dress  in  bark-cloth,  the  women 
scantily  clothe  themselves  with  a  banana  leaf  in 
front,  and  a  reddish-brown  tail  of  fibers  behind,  a 
costume  resembling  that  of  the  Bongo  and  Niam- 
Niam,^^  and  these  garments,  says  Miss  Kingsley, 
are  held  together  largely  by  capillary  attrac- 
tion. ' '  ^'^  Now  and  then,  a  native  gets  a  chance  to 
adorn  himself  with  a  suit  of  European  goods,  and 
he  then  reaches  the  acme  of  SBsthetic  happiness. 
OMilligan  tells  us  of  a  chief  who  bought  a  suit  of  Euro- 
pean blue  denim,  and  the  next  Sunday  at  the  divine 
service  **The  old  man  wore  the  coat,  his  wife  fol- 
lowed with  the  trousers,  and  a  grown  daughter 
brought  up  the  rear  with  the  vest/* 

11  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  pp.  128,  209. 

12  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  588. 

13  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  162. 

i4/&rd.,  p.  121;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  IT, 
p.  562;  Schweinfurth,  II,  p.  19;  Bennett,  p.  72. 

15  Ward,  Herbert,  p.  293;  Schultz,  p.  144;  Bennett,  p.  72. 

16  Ratzel,  III,  p.  137. 

17  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  17. 
"Page  154. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  185 


In  addition  to  decorating  themselves  tlie  people 
of  this  zone  ornament  all  of  their  handiwork — tools, 
weapons  and  implements.  Among  some  tribes 
Stanley  observed  ivory-tipped  oars. 

Singing  and  dancing  are  enthusiastically  enjoyed. 
The  Fan  dance  to  a  *  *  rump-a-tump-tump  tune-beat 
of  the  drum,"  and  singing  usually  accompanies  the 
dance.2^  The  songs  are  monotonous  repetitions  of 
some  such  phrase  as  **The  leopard  caught  the 
monkey's  tail.''  The  sexes  rarely  dance  together. 
The  women  sing  and  dance  standing  in  a  circle,  while 
the  men  form  a  double  line  and  march  up  and  down 
the  streets  with  bells  jingling  on  their  ankles.^- 
The  Bulu  dance  is  ^*an  amazing  and  rapid  succes- 
sion of  extravagant  gestures,  grotesque  poses,  and 
outrageous  contortions."-^  Dances  are  provided 
for  a  betrothal,  a  marriage,  victory  in  war,  for  the 
new  moon,  for  the  end  of  the  mourning  period,-^  and 
sometimes  they  take  the  form  of  sport  in  which 
rival  dancers  contest  for  supremacy.  They  often 
last  all  night. 

The  chief  musical  instrument  is  the  drum,  and 
it  is  used  for  the  dance,  and  to  summon  men  to  hunt 
and  fight.  Other  instruments  are  the  harp,  a  lyre, 
the  strings  of  which  are  made  of  palm-leaf  fibers,  a 
Pan's  pipe  carved  from  wood,  a  bugle  made  of  a 

soKingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  121;  Johnston,  "George 
Grenfell  and  the  Congo/'  11,  p.  714. 

21  Milligan,  p.  243. 

22  Milligan,  pp.  244,  246. 
23/6t<Z.,  p.  135. 

24  Bennett,  p.  71;  Milligan,  p.  245. 


186 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


buffalo  horn  or  the  tooth  of  an  elephant,  a  zylo- 
phone  made  of  a  palm-stock,  and  a  variety  of  rat- 
tles and  whistles.^^ 

Some  efforts  are  made  at  sculpture  and  painting. 
The  Kameruns  paint  the  interior  walls  of  their 
houses,  and  make  and  paint  figures  of  clay.  The 
Dwallas  used  to  carve  in  ivory.  Small  sculptured 
amulet  figures  are  common  and  also  sculptured  fig- 
ures of  ancestors.^^  Attempts  at  drawing  are  rare 
and  very  poor.^^ 

Psychological  Characteristics. — All  Bantus  show  a 
striking  uniformity  of  skull  formation,^^  but,  if  con- 
ditions of  life  modify  the  development  of  the  skull 
and  brain,  we  should  expect  to  find  the  capacity  of 
the  skulls  of  this  zone  to  be  below  the  Bantu  average, 
on  account  of  the  relative  uniformity  of  the  environ- 
ment, and  the  ease  of  obtaining  a  livelihood.  And 
we  should  also  expect  the  Fan  to  show  a  superior 
capacity  to  the  surrounding  aborigines,  since  they 
are  probably  mixed  largely  with  immigrants  from 
the  eastern  plateau.  In  fact,  the  people  of  this 
zone  appear  to  represent  a  variety  of  types  with 
corresponding  differences  in  intelligence  and  mental 
traits. 

Generally  speaking  they  show  only  a  moderate 

26Milligan,  p.  243;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo," 
II,  p.  722. 

26  Frobenius,  "Die  bildende  Kunst  der  Afrikaner,"  Mittheilungen 
der  Anthropologischen  Gesellschaft,  XXVII,  pp.  2,  6,  7,  8. 

27  Bennett,  p.  80. 

28  Shrubsall,  "A  Study  of  A-Bantu  Skulls  and  Crania,"  Jour. 
Anthropological  Institute,  n.  s.  V,  p.  88. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  187 


degree  of  pugnacity,  except  in  case  of  the  Fan;  a 
strong  instinct  of  repulsion,  manifesting  itself  in 
hatred  of  strangers  and  of  neighboring  groups ;  and 
a  strong  gregarious  instinct.  The  acquisitive  and 
constructive  instincts  seem  to  be  almost  absent. 
The  sedentary  groups  are  less  aggressive  and 
shrewd  than  the  nomadic,  and  their  emotions  pre- 
dominate more  over  their  reason.  They  are,  there- 
fore, more  superstitious,  and  show  more  self- 
abasement. 

The  Fan  are  a  good  example  of  the  nomadic  type. 

Their  countenances,'*  says  Miss  Kingsley,  *'are 
very  bright  and  expressive,  and  if  once  you  have 
been  among  them  you  can  never  mistake  a  Fan." 
They  are  full  of  fire  and  temper,  quick  to  take  of- 
fense, and  utterly  indifferent  to  life.  They  have 
shrewd  sense,  and  are  unimaginative.^^  With  some 
reservation  they  may  be  classified,  after  the  methods 
of  Giddings,  as  the  idio-motor  type  in  which  Intel- 
lect does  not  develop  much  beyond  perception  and 
conjecture.  Eelief  is  determined  mainly  by  instinct, 
habit,  and  auto-suggestion.''^^  Their  predominant 
mood  seems,  to  the  author  of  this  book,  to  be  that  of 
the  agitative  rather  than  the  forceful.  Lacking 
true  courage,  they  attack  their  enemies  in  ambush, 
or  assassinate  a  defenseless  man  or  woman  working 
in  the  field  or  carrying  water.  Such  acts  are  con- 
sidered meritorious.'"^ 

29  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  331. 

30  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  87. 

81  Milligan,  "The  Fetish  Folk  of  West  Africa/'  p.  266. 


188  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


The  people  of  this  zone  are  violent  rather  than 
courageous,  and  their  incessant  conflicts,  together 
with  the  enervating  climate,  keep  them  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  irritation.  Their  weary  and  agi- 
tative  character  causes  them  to  seek  relief  in  amuse- 
ments, or  diversions,  that  sink  them  deep  in  the 
instinctive  life,  because  the  narrowness  of  the  activ- 
ities do  not  permit  of  a  variety  of  wholesome  ex- 
pansive pleasures,  which  among  civilized  people, 
lift  man  out  of  the  sensuous  mire.^^  The  value  of 
wholesome  diversions  is  especially  great  for  people 
who  are  subject  to  the  agitative  mood,  and  also  for 
individuals  who  work  excessively,  and  are  subject  to 
weariness.  When  the  civilized  man,  through  weari- 
ness or  anxiety,  falls  into  an  agitative  mood  his  self- 
assertive  instinct  reaches  out  for  forceful  or  ex- 
pansive images,  and  these  sustain  him,  and  lift  him 
out  of  his  despondency;  but  the  self-assertive  in- 
stinct of  the  uncivilized  man  is  weak, — ^his  imagina- 
tion, instead  of  soaring,  sinks  to  the  carnal,  and  he 
can  contemplate  nothing  in  the  future  to  compensate 
for  his  existing  disquietude.  He  therefore  does  not 
rise  out  of  it.^^ 

Imitativeness,  as  opposed  to  creativeness,  is  a 
characteristic  of  all  the  people.^*  Improvidence 
is  also  a  universal  characteristic.  The  Dwallas, 
though  belonging  to  the  more  settled  and  industrious 
populations,  scarcely  produce  enough  bananas  and 
yams,  with  the  help  of  their  slaves,  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door,  and  their  country  is  noted  for  dear- 

32Winiams,  p.  755.        Ibid.,  p.  752.  34Cureau,  p.  685. 


THE  WESTEEN  BANANA  ZONE  189 


ness  of  provisions.^  ^  While  savages  generally 
have  not  enough  foresight  many  of  the  most  civilized 
people  have  too  much.  Calamitosus  est  animus 
futuri  anxkis/'^^ 

As  a  rule  the  level  of  culture  rises  as  we  go  in- 
land,^^  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  more  open 
and  elevated  country,  the  greater  possibility  of  set- 
tled industry  through  confederation,  and  the  in- 
filtration of  culture  from  Northeast  Africa.^^  The 
Bangala  are  the  most  intelligent  of  the  interior 
tribes,  and  this  is  attributed  to  their  confederation.^^ 

Within  the  family  circle  the  virtues  common  to 
all  races  are  manifested,  such  as  affection,  kindness, 
and  mutual  helpfulness.  Love  between  husband 
and  wife,  parents  and  children  is  obvious,  though  of 
less  intensity  and  stability  than  among  better  or- 
ganized people.^^  Outside  the  family  group  the  pri- 
mary virtues  extend  somewhat  to  the  tribe  or  village, 
but  not  so  effectively  here  as  in  other  parts  of  Africa, 
because  of  the  lack  of  incentive  to  cooperate.  Be- 
yond the  tribe  or  village,  regard  for  others  scarcely 
exists.  Fellow-feeling  is  weak,  and  individualism, 
so  characteristic  of  the  hunting  life,  reaches  here  an 
extreme  development.  The  groups  are  separated  by 
natural  barriers  of  river,  swamp  and  forest,  and,  in- 
stead of  cooperating,  they  meet  only  to  contest  for 
choice  hunting  and  gathering  grounds.  All  strang- 
ers are  enemies.    The  ceremony  of  blood-brother- 


35  Ratzel,  III,  p.  122.  38  Semple,  p.  280. 

36  Seneca,  "Epistolae  "  98.  39  Overbergh,  pp.  77,  79. 
37Ciireau,  p.  691.                        *o  direau,  pp.  645,  648,  650. 


190 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


hood  is  the  only  passport  to  friendship  for  outsid- 
ers.*^ Of  the  Central  African,  Wolf  says,  *^Er 
ist  ein  Krasser  Egoist  und  iinertraglicher  Eealist 
wie  ihn  Peschnel  ganz  rechtig  nennt. ' '  He 
lacks  the  constnictive  imagination  necessary  to 
enter  into  the  feelings  and  situation  of  others.  He 
will  waylay,  kill  and  eat  a  stranger  with  the  same 
indifference  that  he  would  slay  a  wild  beast.  Ac- 
cording to  Milligan,  nineteen  out  of  twenty  of  the 
natives  die  by  violence.  Strife  between  individuals 
and  loosely  organized  groups  is  chronic,  and  this 
keeps  the  people  in  a  resentful  and  malignant  state 
of  mind  which  reacts  within  the  village  group  and 
family,  preventing  the  normal  development  of  the 
primary  virtues.  The  aged,  the  sick  and  incapable 
are  left  to  die.*^  Altruism  is  shown  only  among 
those  of  a  gi-oup  who  are  united  by  ties  of  protection 
and  alimentation.'**  The  same  is,  however,  pretty 
largely  true  of  civilized  people.  **Our  sense  of 
right,''  says  Cooley,  ^ ignores  those  whom  we  do  not, 
through  sympathy,  feel  as  part  of  ourselves,  no  mat- 
ter how  close  their  physical  contiguity.  To  the 
Norman  conqueror  the  Saxon  was  an  inferior  animal, 
whose  sentiments  he  no  more  admitted  to  his  imagi- 
nation, I  suppose,  than  a  farmer  does  those  of  his 
cattle,  and,  towards  whom,  accordingly,  he  did  not 
feel  human  obligation.    It  was  the  same  with  the 

41  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo/'  II,  p.  687. 

42  Page  236. 

43  Cureaii,  p.  651. 

44  Cureau,  p.  651, 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  191 


slaveholder  and  the  slave,  and  so  it  sometimes  is 
with  employer  and  wage-earner.  The  behavior  of 
the  Europeans  toward  the  Chinese  during  the  recent 
invasion  of  China  showed  in  a  striking  manner  how 
completely  mo^al  obligation  breaks  down  in  dealing 
with  people  who  are  not  felt  to  be  of  kindred  human- 
ity with  ourselves. '^^ 

The  fiery  temper  and  hostile  attitude  of  the  peo- 
ple of  this  zone  are  due  in  part  to  the  natural  in- 
stinct of  self-display  or  love  of  distinction,  which 
having  no  other  outlet,  finds  vent  in  the  destruction 
of  human  life.  Here  is  a  very  striking  illustration 
of  the  baneful  working  out  of  a  human  instinct 
among  savages,  which  produces  among  civilized  peo- 
ple the  most  happy  results.  The  instinct  of  self- 
display  in  a  cultured  society  finds  its  satisfaction  in 
defeating  a  rival  at  golf,  cricket,  football,  chess  or 
in  the  competitive  game  of  commerce,  science  and 
art.  It  becomes  a  factor  of  socialization  like 
pugnacity. 

The  political  and  economic  conditions,  and  also 
the  climatic  conditions,  tend  to  excite  personal 
violence  and  malignancy.  A  uniform  climate,  such 
as  that  of  the  tropics,  has  a  tendency  to  produce 
emotional  instability,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
moist  warm  winds  induce  general  lassitude,  irri- 
tability, ill  humor  and  quarrelsomeness.^^  Man  in 
the  forest  is  neither  very  gay  nor  droll.  He  is 
rather  melancholic.    His  humor  is  sad  and  morose. 

*s  "Human  Xature  and  the  Social  Order,"  p.  362. 
"Ward,  Robert,  p.  247;  Dexter,  pp.  23,  26. 


192  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


He  laughs  little.^^  If  tlie  native  sometimes  bursts 
into  laughter,  and  always  seems  to  love  fun,  it  is 
rather  because  of  the  rarity  of  the  occasions  which 
excite  his  risibilities.  Anger  is  more  often  mani- 
fested than  good  humor,  but  the  former  is  short 
lived  and  seldom  reaches  the  intensity  of  revenge. 

As  to  the  effect  of  European  contact  upon  the 
people  of  this  zone,  it  is  difficult  to  judge.  Before 
pronouncing  judgment  it  would  be  necessary  to  de- 
cide what  it  is  that  constitutes  progress  or  regres- 
sion, and  on  these  points  there  is  the  widest  diver- 
gence. Many  of  the  natives  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mission  schools  have  given  up  their  fetich  religion, 
and  formally  adopted  Christianity;  they  have  put 
on  European  clothes,  learned  to  eat  with  a  fork, 
and  to  read  and  write.  Some  of  them  have  been 
sent  to  European  universities,  and  attained  to  a 
marked  degree  of  culture.  But  can  these  be  re- 
garded as  anything  more  than  isolated  examples? 
Many  explorers  and  administrators  in  Africa  think 
not.  Much  of  the  missionaiy  and  civilizing  efforts 
merely  destroys  the  restraints  of  fear  in  the  native 
religion  and  substitutes  for  them  abstractions  be- 
yond their  grasp,  causing  a  loss  of  equilibrium  and 
a  moral  descent.^^ 

One  of  the  subtile  e^dls  of  missionary  work  is  that 
it  removes  from  the  native  mind  the  stimulus  of 
the  mysterious.  The  unsophisticated  African,  be- 
ing surrounded  as  he  thinks  by  a  host  of  spirits, 
contemplates  them  with  constant  curiosity  and  a 

*7  Cureau,  p.  684.  *8  Oureau,  p.  687. 


THE  WESTERN  BANANA  ZONE  193 


sense  of  the  mysterious.  The  mystery  in  their 
phenomena  thus  gives  interest  to  life  and  prevents 
a  lapse  into  mental  and  moral  torpor.  The  mis- 
sionary destroys  this  stimulus  by  undermining  the 
belief  in  spirits.  If  the  natives  could  substitute, 
for  this  interest  in  the  spirit  mysteries,  an  equal 
interest  in  the  play  of  natural  law  in  the  social  and 
economic  phenomena,  the  result  might  be  different. 
But  the  social  condition  of  the  savage  is  too  simple 
to  awaken  this  interest. 

If  the  missionary  influence  is  good  that  of  the 
exploiting  white  man  and  trader  largely  counter- 
acts it.  At  any  rate,  we  look  over  this  African  ter- 
ritory and  see  the  natives  dying  out  from  disorgan- 
ization and  disease,"*^  and  fleeing  from  the  white 
man,  leaving  behind  abandoned  fields  and  empty 
villages. 

*9  Bennett,  p.  70. 


CHAPTEE  XVII 


BANTUS  OF  THE  MAITIOC  ZONE 

Description  of  the  Zone. — The  zone  of  the  manioc 
is  a  broad  area  about  15°  wide,  stretching  somewhat 
diagonally  across  the  continent,  and  lying  mostly  be- 
low the  equator.  The  line  marking  its  northern 
boundary  begins  at  the  Eio  del  Eey  Eiver,  which 
flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  and  then  follows  an 
irregular  course  to  Lake  Tanganyika ;  thence  north- 
east to  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Victoria,  and  thence  run- 
ning a  circle  southward  and  northeastward  to  the 
coast.  The  southern  boundary  begins  about  Ben- 
guela,  on  the  West  Coast,  and  extends  eastward  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi  Eiver.^  The  zone  takes 
in  a  part  of  the  Lower  Congo,  and  the  higher  alti- 
tudes of  the  southern  lake  regions.  It  varies  in 
elevation  from  sea  level  to  a  height  of  3,000  feet.^ 
Much  of  this  area  is  covered  with  forest,  but,  since  it 
lies  below  the  equator,  the  rainfall  is  not  so  great 
as  in  the  banana  zone,  and  the  vegetation  is  not  so 
luxuriant  or  rank.  Here  and  there  are  large 
areas  of  open  park-like  country,  or  plains  covered 
with  high  grass  and  weeds.    Between  Lake  Tan- 

1  Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  p.  549. 

2  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,**  I,  p.  266. 

194 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  195 


ganyika  and  the  coast  tlie  zone  is  bisected  by  the 
pastoral  plateau  and  its  forest  borders.  The  tem- 
perature is  not  so  high  upon  the  average  as  in  the 
zone  above.  It  ranges  during  the  twenty-four  hours 
from  60°  to  90°.  This  variation  is  enough  to  make 
both  the  heat  and  the  cold  painful.^  In  the  higher 
altitudes  of  the  interior  the  mercury  in  the  early 
morning  often  drops  to  43°.^ 

Wild  game  such  as  the  elephant,  buffalo,  antelope, 
lion,  etc.,  were  formerly  abundant  but  their  zones 
have  been  much  restricted  and  their  numbers  de- 
pleted within  the  last  century.^ 

The  Inhabitants. — The  natives  are  all  of  the  Bantu 
stock  except  the  few  scattered  groups  of  Pygmies 
described  in  the  preceding  volume.  They  com- 
prise the  Gabunese,  Mpongwe,  Bateke,  Baloa,  Ba- 
kalai,  Baluba,  Barotse,  Angolese,  Kazembe,  Wan- 
yamwezi,  etc.  They  are  all,  with  few  exceptions, 
decidedly  negroid  in  type  but  differ  notably  in  color 
and  features.  Two  constrasting  types  may  be 
broadly  distinguished.  One,  dark,  prognathous, 
thick-lipped,  and  flat-nosed,  forms  the  substratum. 
The  other,  lighter  in  color,  less  prognathous  and  less 
negroid  in  features,  forms  the  ruling  classes.  The 
existence  of  these  two  classes  is  explained  by  the  in- 
vasion of  the  pastoral  tribes  from  the  east  and- 
south.®    In  British  Central  Africa  the  population 

sHahn,  p.  355;  Boshart,  p.  88. 

*  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  259. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  259. 

« Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  259 ;  Stanley,  "Through  the 
Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  80. 


196  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


is  decidedly  black,  and  none  of  the  tribes  lias  the 
oblique  eyes  as  are  occasionally  found  in  the  Congo. 
The  hair  of  the  infants  is  distinctly  brownish^  The 
Banyansi  are  of  lighter  color  and  well  formed.^ 
The  Bateke  of  Stanley  Pool  are  described  as  having 
a  Greek  physiognomy.^  These  contrasting  types  are 
due  to  differences  of  climate  and  race  intermixture. 

Economic  Life. — This  zone  was  no  doubt  once  a 
great  hunting  ground/*^  but  its  open  character  fa- 
cilitated the  extermination  of  the  game,  superin- 
duced by  the  demand  of  the  white  man  for  ivory. 
As  hunting  on  a  large  scale  declined  the  people  re- 
sorted to  rats,  mice,  caterpillars,  worms,  etc.^^  The 
scarcity  of  wild  game  probably  led  to,  or  extended, 
the  practice  of  eating  human  flesh.  In  the  last  cen- 
tury, however,  cannibalism  has  declined  partly  on 
account  of  the  regularity  of  the  food  supply  fur- 
nished by  agriculture.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil 
not  only  arrested  cannibalism  by  supplying  food 
but  by  giving  employment  to  war  captives. 

The  domestic  animals  are  the  goat,  sheep,  hog, 
dog,  cat,  fowl  and  pigeon.^^  The  elephant  could  not 
be  domesticated  here  on  account  of  the  costliness  of 
feeding  him.^^a    Cattle  are  killed  in  many  regions 

7  Johnston,  ''Britisli  Central  Africa,"  pp.  393,  396.  398. 

8  Johnston,  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and  the  Portuguese  Col- 
onies," Jour.  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  XIII,  p.  474. 

sBoshart,  p.  99. 

10  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  435. 

11  Ratzel,  II,  p.  557. 

12  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  pp.  429,  616. 
i2aBo8hart,  pp.  93,  95. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  197 


by  tlie  tsetse  fly,  and  in  others  tliey  are  destroyed  by 
a  certain  poisonous  bush.^^  In  rare  localities  may 
be  found  a  few  cattle  belonging  to  a  cbief.^*  The 
fowl  are  scrawny  and  scarce,  and  their  eggs  are 
eaten  mostly  in  a  state  of  advanced  preservation. 
The  natives  like  their  eggs  ' '  full  of  meat. ' ' 

Whether  the  natives  resorted  to  agriculture  as  a 
result  of  dearth  of  game,  or  because  forced  to  it  as 
a  result  of  conquest,  is  a  debatable  question.  Pre- 
ville  believes  in  the  latter  theory,  and  also  Kichter 
who  says  that  man  has  to  be  coerced  in  order  to 
work  at  all  in  this  oppressive  climate.^"  The  Bantu, 
as  pretty  much  all  Central  Africans,  are  funda- 
mentally vegetarians,  and  when  they  fail  to  get  sus- 
tained by  nature  they  cultivate  the  soil.  Nothing 
is  so  characteristic  of  the  people  as  the  hoe,^^  which 
is  the  only  implement  of  agriculture.^^ 

A  dry  season  permits  the  ripening  of  a  variety  of 
grains  of  which  the  chief  is  manioc  (tapioca)  which 
was  introduced  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  the 
Portuguese  in  Angola.  Its  cultivation  rapidly 
spread  over  a  wide  area  of  Central  Africa. Along 
with  manioc  the  people  use  maize,  millet,  sorghum 

13  Kallenberg,  p.  52;  Johnston,  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and 
the  Portuguese  Colonies,"  Jour.  Anthropological  Institute,  XIII, 
p.  466. 

1*  Burton,  II,  p.  282 ;  Richter,  p.  68. 
isRichter,  p.  123. 

16  Hahn,  "Die  Haustiere  und  ihre  Beziehungen  zur  Wertschaft  des 
Menschen,"  p.  571. 

17  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  426. 

18  Morgan,  p.  235;  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  262;  Bo- 
shart,  p.  92;  Weule,  p.  84;  Schweinfurth,  I,  p.  527;  Johnston, 


198  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


(a  small  grain),  and  in  some  places  tlie  banana  and 
plantain.  The  banana  is  rare  in  tlie  elevated  dis- 
tricts where  it  is  found  only  on  the  slopes  and  in 
the  valleys.  Other  products  of  the  soil,  var^dng 
according  to  locality,  are  ground  nuts,  melons,  beans, 
sugar-cane,  peas,  yams,  pumpkins,  eleusine,  rice, 
cotton  and  tobacco.^^  The  fields  or  gardens  usually 
have  a  high  hedge  around  them  to  keep  off  the  wild 
beasts.2^  The  depredations  of  the  monkey  and  the 
elephant  in  some  districts  discourage  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  cereals.^  ^  In  connection  with  each  house 
there  is  a  granary  for  storing  the  manioc,  etc.^^  j^^ 
is  a  huge  circular  basket-work,  plastered  with  mud, 
and  set  on  a  raised  platform  as  a  protection  against 
rats  and  ants.^^  Wooden  mortars  for  jDreparing 
the  manioc  may  be  seen  in  front  of  all  the  huts.  The 
natives  are  fond  of  fermented  drinks  which  they 
make  from  the  banana,  maize,  manioc  and  honey. 
Dried  fish  is  a  common  food  near  the  coast,  and 
dried  rats  in  the  interior.^^ 

This  zone  is  characterized  by  a  higher  develop- 
ment of  handicrafts  than  is  found  in  the  banana 
zone.    The  houses  are  more  carefully  built.  The 

"George  GrenfeU  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  605;  Hahn,  "Afrika,"  p.  115; 
Richter,  p.  95. 

isRatzel,  II,  pp.  550,  557;  III,  p.  114;  Kallenberg,  p.  52. 

20  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  307. 

21  Burton,  II,  p.  57. 

22  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  86. 

23  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  456;  Ferree,  p.  156. 

24  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  513;  Living- 
stone, "Last  Journals,"  II,  p.  127. 

25Ratzel,  III,  p.  98. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  199 


articles  of  manufacture  are  more  varied,  including 
cotton  and  bark-clotli,  woven  vessels,  baskets,  mats, 
string,  pots,  nets  of  fiber,  garments  of  skin,  iron 
spears  and  knives,  boes,  sickles,  needles,  awls,  bells, 
wire  circlets,  etc.  The  cutlery  has  often  been  com- 
pared to  that  of  Sheffield.^^  Each  village  has  its 
smelting  house,  charcoal  burners  and  blacksmiths. 

Along  the  West  Coast,  as  far  south  as  Benguela, 
trade  is  carried  on  by  a  special  professional  class  of 
men.  On  the  eastern  slope  the  Wanyamwesi  are 
celebrated  traders,  and  they  monopolize  the  carry- 
ing of  goods  from  the  coast  to  the  interior.  They 
were  called  by  Stanley  the  Yankees  of  Africa." 
At  the  interior  markets  the  trading  is  frequently 
assigned  to  the  women.  The  business  of  the  market 
is  limited  to  fixed  days  of  the  week.  On  the  Lower 
Congo  every  fourth  day  a  market  is  held  at  some 
particular  village  where  people  come  in  boats  or 
afoot,  bringing  pottery,  palm-oil,  fish,  fowl,  pigs, 
flour,  salt,  hoes,  mats,  grass-cloth,  wooden  stat- 
uettes, etc.^^  The  traders  adulterate  and  give 
short  weight  like  civilized  people.^^  Sometimes 
three  thousand  people  attend  a  market,  and  they 
make  a  terrible  din,  mingling  the  roar  of  haggling 
voices  with  the  crowing  of  the  cocks  and  squealing 

26Katzel,  III,  pp.  44,  45,  132;  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa," 
pp.  456,  457,  459;  Burton,  II,  p.  71;  Weiss,  p.  Ill;  Weule,  p.  275; 
Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  I,  p.  545;  Werner,  pp.  196, 
201,  202;  Richter,  pp.  91,  95. 

27  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  I,  p.  540;  Burton,  II,  p.  29. 

28  Cameron,  p.  265 ;  Weule,  p.  274. 

29  Cameron,  p.  376. 


200  THE  NEGKO  RACES 


of  the  pigs.^^  Cowries  pass  as  money  in  some  places 
and  in  others  iron  hoes,^^  and  in  still  others  coins  of 
foreign  governments.  In  towns  where  Europeans 
are  settled  trade  is  diversified  and  the  means  of 
transportation  modernized.  Railroads  and  steam- 
boat lines  connect  the  east  and  west  coasts  with  vari- 
ous points  in  the  interior. 

The  work  of  production  is  divided  between  the 
sexes  with  some  degree  of  equality.  The  women 
do  the  field  work  but  are  assisted  sometimes  by  the 
men.^-  They  also  build  houses,  weave,  grind 
corn,  brew  beer,  and  make  pottery.^^^  The  men 
work  in  iron,  repair  fences  and  houses,  weave  cloth, 
and  make  and  mend  the  garments  of  the  women.^^ 
There  are  specialists  for  all  handicrafts.-^  Among 
the  Barotse  there  is  considerable  cooperation  in 
building,  planting  and  hunting.^^ 

Slaves  are  in  much  demand  for  field  work.  They 
usually  live  in  hamlets  apart  from  their  masters. 
The  ruling  class  turn  over  all  agricultural  work  to 
the  slaves.  In  most  tribes  the  free  and  slave  classes 
are  very  distinct.  Perhaps  nowhere  else  in  the 
world  can  be  found  a  clearer  example  of  one  class 

30  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  II,  pp.  123,  125. 

31  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  88;  Johnston, 
"George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  796. 

32  Johnston,  ''George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  520. 
S2aRichter,  p.  96. 

33  Werner,  pp.  135,  195;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the 
Congo,"  II,  p.  675. 

34  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  82 ;  Weiss,  p. 
Ill;  Maedonald,  p.  102. 

85  Richter,  p.  95. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  201 


living  upon  tlie  labor  of  another.  Of  course  civil- 
ized people  are  much  horrified  at  slavery  because 
under  that  system  the  incidence  of  the  burden  of 
supporting  the  population  is  clearly  visible.  Yet 
under  our  modern  economic  and  political  system  the 
burden  is  often  as  heavily  pressed  upon  certain 
classes  as  in  savage  society,  but  in  the  disguised 
form  of  inherited  wealth,  shifted  taxation,  monop- 
olies, pensions  and  other  forms  of  exploitation. 

Many  of  the  slaves  in  the  manioc  zone  are  war 
captives,  but  numerous  others  have  been  purchased 
from  parents  in  times  of  famine .^^ 

The  people  seem  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  property 
rights.  Plantations  and  enclosures  belong  to  the 
people  who  made  them,  and  so  also  movables.^^ 

Family  Life. — Family  life  in  this  zone  is  somewhat 
more  elevated  than  that  of  the  banana  zone,  although 
in  some  localities,  as  in  the  Lower  Congo,  it  is  on  the 
same  level.  The  more  sedentary  life  of  the  popula- 
tion permits  the  children  to  live  longer  with  their 
parents,  and  facilitates  a  better  transmission  of  tra- 
dition. Girls  being  serviceable  as  field  workers  are 
not  given  in  marriage  without  a  valuable  consider- 
ation, and  the  greater  usefulness  of  women  causes 
them  to  be  somewhat  better  treated.  Wives  are 
sometimes  obtained  by  capture  but  more  generally 
by  purchase,  and  the  bargain  is  sometimes  made 
before  the  child  is  born.  The  price  is  paid  in  goats, 
hides,  cloth,  etc.,  and  varies  much  according  to  local- 

36Wenie,  p.  273. 

8T  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  471. 


202  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


ity  and  family  rank.^^  In  the  Congo  tbe  *  intended 
husband  buys  the  young  girl  of  her  father.  He  is 
obliged  to  supply  the  dowry,  his  wife^s  trousseau, 
and  to  provide  her  with  a  house  with  all  cooking  and 
cleaning  utensils.  Further,  he  has  to  defray  the  cost 
of  the  feast  to  which  the  relatives  of  both  families 
are  invited.  The  day  of  the  wedding  there  is  a  ban- 
quet at  which  pork  forms  the  main  dish.  The  feast 
is  accompanied  by  songs  and  dances.  The  cus- 
tom in  some  districts  demands  that  the  suitor  consult 
the  bride's  maternal  uncle.^^  In  certain  tribes  mar- 
riage is  patrilocal,  i.  e.,  the  wife  goes  to  live  in  the 
house  of  her  husband,  and  in  other  tribes  matrilocal, 
i.  e.,  the  husband  goes  to  her  home.'*^ 

Polygamy  is  not  so  universal  in  the  manioc  as  in 
the  banana  zone,  perhaps  owing  to  a  better  balance 
between  the  sexes.  The  men  do  not  die  so  rapidly 
from  violence;  and  not  many  of  them  can  accumu- 
late the  purchase  price  for  more  than  one  wife. 
The  chief,  however,  often  has  many  wives,  and 
among  them,  not  infrequently,  some  of  his  own 
daughters.^- 

Chastity  is  esteemed  a  virtue  but  is  rarely  prac- 
ticed. **Over  nearly  the  whole  of  British  Central 
Africa,"  says  Johnston,    chastity  before  puberty  is 

38  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  412,  415;  Werner,  p. 
129;  Milligan,  p.  52. 

39  Johnston,  "George  Grrenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  679. 
4oStigand,  p.  122. 

41  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  413  j  Burton,  II,  p.  24; 
Macdonald,  p.  121. 

42  Cameron,  p.  307. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  203 


an  unknown  condition.'*  Girls  rarely  remain  vir- 
gin after  about  five  years  of  age.*^  After  puberty 
young  girls  assemble  together  and  live  apart  from 
their  parents  in  a  separate  hut  where  they  receive 
their  friends  without  interference.^^  It  is  common 
for  both  sexes  to  bathe  together  naked.^^ 

Each  family  occupies  a  suite  of  huts,  one  for  each 
adult.^^  The  custom  of  living  separated  probably 
grew  out  of  the  necessity  of  making  the  huts  conical 
in  form  to  turn  the  rain.  The  people  did  not  know 
how  to  make  a  waterproof  roof  for  a  large  house. 
In  the  Lower  Congo  region  large  square  houses  have 
come  into  use  through  the  influence  of  white  immi- 
grants.^^ In  many  villages  the  boys  live  in  a  com- 
mon house  until  they  are  married.^ ^ 

The  work  of  maintenance  does  not  fall  so  heavily 
upon  the  women  here  as  in  the  banana  zone.  The 
men  assist  in  the  field  work,  and  have  a  large  share 
in  the  handicrafts,  including  the  making  of  garments 
for  women.  Husband  and  wife  have  their  individ- 
ual property  .^^ 

Married  life  seems  to  run  about  as  smoothly  here 
as  in  most  other  parts  of  the  world.  Yet  many  mar- 
riages are  what  might  be  called  failures.  Intrigues 

43  "British  Central  Africa/*  p.  409. 
4*  Burton,  II,  p.  24. 
45Richter,  p.  78. 

46  Richter,  p.  107. 

47  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  453,  455;  Livingstone, 
"Last  Journals,"  II,  p.  25;  Guessfeldt,  p.  212;  Ankermann,  p.  56; 
Hahn,  "Afrika,"  p.  117. 

48  Webster,  p.  13. 

49  Richter,  p.  100. 


204  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


and  adultery  are  not  nncommon,^^  and  divorces  are 
frequent.^^  Among  the  Barotse  separations  are  so 
common  tliat  the  sex  relations  practically  amount  to 
free  love.  It  is  rare  that  a  Barotse  man  of  middle 
life  is  found  living  with  his  first  wife.^^  Women 
having  a  dowry  and  property  of  their  own  often 
assert  their  independence.  Children  are  welcomed 
and  loved  with  a  true  maternal  instinct,  even  if 
the  love  is  not  so  lasting  as  among  civilized  people. 
Abortion  is  often  practiced  but  not  through  objec- 
tions to  children  per  se.  It  is  done  by  young  wives 
to  escape  from  the  custom  of  living  apart  from  their 
husbands  during  the  period  of  gestation  and  lacta- 
tion.^^ This  separation  of  husband  and  wife  is  the 
result  of  some  kind  of  superstition.  Men  sometimes 
exchange  their  wives,  or  divorce  them.  If  a  wife's 
children  die  the  husband  is  entitled  to  divorce,  and 
she  is  entitled  to  divorce  *'if  the  husband  neglects 
to  sew  and  mend  her  garments."  Mothers 
often  show  a  deep  and  abiding  love  for  their 
children.  Weme  instances  the  case  of  a  woman, 
living  some  distance  from  a  mission  house,  who, 
hearing  that  her  son,  a  pupil  there,  was  ill,  walked 
in  and  carried  him  home  on  her  back.  He  was  a  big 
lad  of  thirteen  or  fourteen.^^  Among  some  tribes, 
however,  parental  affection  scarcely  exists.    A  Bar- 

50  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  412. 
siMilligan,  p.  53. 
82Richter,  p.  103. 

53  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,'*  p.  417. 

Macdonald,  p.  109. 
55  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  146. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE 


205 


otse  father  thinks  nothing  of  his  children,  and  the 
mother's  love  for  them  is  feeble.  She  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  kill  them  if  they  stand  in  the  way  of  a  new 
marriage.^^ 

Children  in  most  cases  take  the  name  of  the 
mother,  but  they  are  sometimes  claimed  as  the  prop- 
erty of  the  father.^^  Where  there  is  property 
to  transmit,  or  where  goods  come  to  have  a  high 
value,  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  father  to  dic- 
tate their  disposal,  and  for  the  children  to  take 
the  name  of  the  father.  The  transition  from 
the  matrilineal  to  the  patrilineal  family  is  generally 
effected  chiefly  through  the  development  of  prop- 
erty and  positions  of  honor  which  cause  the  father 
to  prefer  his  sons  as  inheritors.  Blood-brother- 
hood, secret  societies,  totemism  and  religious  dedi- 
cation are  devices  by  which  men,  consciously  or  un- 
consciously, escape  from  the  bonds  of  the  maternal 
system.  Migration,  militancy  and  wife  purchase 
also  have  a  tendency  to  break  down  that  system.^^ 
In  Loango  and  in  many  other  regions  of  this  zone 
children  are  considered  the  exclusive  property  of  the 
wife.  In  case  of  her  death  they  may  be  bought  by 
the  husband  from  the  wife 's  relative s.^^  Inheritance 
is,  with  few  exceptions,  in  the  female  line.  Among 
the  Anyanja  the  sons  inherit,  and  among  the  Yao  a 

ceRichter,  p.  105. 

57  Burton,  II,  p.  23. 

58  Thomas,  *'Sex  and  Society,"  pp.  89,  90,  92,  93;  Ellwood,  Chas. 
A.,  "Sociology,"  pp.  83,  84. 

58Katzel,  III,  p.  124. 


206  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


Woman's  property  goes  to  her  sons  and  daugh- 
ters.^^ 

Political  Life. — Before  the  introduction  of  agri- 
culture in  this  region  the  population  was  probably 
scattered  in  small  groups,  on  account  of  lack  of 
sufficient  game  or  spontaneous  production.  These 
groups,  by  reason  of  the  often  open  character  of  the 
country,  would  come  into  collision,  resulting  in  tem- 
porary consolidations  or  confederations,  facilitated 
by  common  language  and  race.  After  systematic  ag- 
riculture was  begnin  the  groups  probably  enlarged  by 
multiplication  and  intertribal  warfare.  The  im- 
petus to  consolidate  was  then  powerfully  aided  by  a 
great  immigration  from  the  southeast.  These  new 
arrivals  were  the  outcasts  or  rebellious  elements 
from  the  pastoral  regions,  and  their  coming  is  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  the  best  organized  and  most 
military  tribes  lived  in  the  far  southeast  in  the  most 
favored  pastures.  Now,  when  a  rebellion  was  or- 
ganized, or  a  restless  surplus  population  sought  an 
outlet,  the  only  open  way  was  northward.  Later, 
when  rebellions  in  the  more  northern  tribes  broke 
out  and  sought  new  pastures  they  also  could  ad- 
vance only  in  a  northward  direction,  since  the 
stronger  tribes  were  behind  them  and  the  weaker 
ones  in  front.  Each  step  north  was  marked  by  less 
favored  pastures,  less  military  governments,  and 
more  timid  and  peaceful  people.  Wlien  finally  the 
emigrants  reached  the  zone  of  manioc  they  found 
there  the  tsetse  fly  which  destroyed  their  cattle. 

60  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  471. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  207 


They  were  obliged  now  to  turn  back  against  a 
stronger  host,  or  give  up  the  pastoral  life,  and  in- 
vade the  territory  of  the  hunters  and  cultivators  of 
the  soil.  Pressure  of  circumstances  compelled  the 
latter  course.  So  the  emigrants  pressed  across  the 
line,  conquered  the  natives,  forced  them  to  field 
work,  and  henceforth  lived  upon  the  products  of 
the  soil.  Often  several  communities  thus  became 
united  by  conquest  under  one  government,  the  rulers 
of  which  were  lighter  in  color  and  less  negroid  than 
the  masses.  Geographical  obstacles  seem  to  have 
diverted  this  invading  movement  from  the  regions 
of  the  east.  Lake  Nj^assa  and  the  northern  lands  of 
the  Upper  Zambesi.  There  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  rulers  remain  of  the  same  color  and 
type.^^ 

Each  state  organized  under  this  immigi-ation 
movement  became  at  once  aggressive  towards  its 
neighbors.^^  The  rather  open  nature  of  the  country 
and  the  apparent  possibility  of  assembling  a  large 
fighting  force  would  seem  to  have  favored  wide 
conquests  and  the  formation  of  large  empires ;  but, 
in  fact,  few  of  such  empires  developed.^^  The  more 
conspicuous  among  these  are  the  Lunda,  the  Barotse, 
Bakongo,  and  Baluba.^'*  At  one  time  a  single  em- 
pire is  said  to  have  included  Bakongo,  parts  of 
French  Gaboon,  Portuguese  Kabinda  and  Angola, 

61  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  394. 

62  Macdonald,  p.  Ill;  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  II,  p.  273. 

63  Johnston,  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and  the  Portuguese  Col- 
onies," Jour.  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  XIII,  p.  468. 

64  Weiss,  p.  110. 


208  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


and  tlie  Congo  Free  State,  to  whicli  may  have  been 
included  Mpongwe  on  the  north,  a  branch  of  Bangala 
on  the  south,  and  the  Balmida  and  Mabunda  and 
other  groups  more  inland.*^^  The  existence  of  such 
an  empire  seems  to  the  writer  altogether  incred- 
ible. 

There  are  two  obstacles  to  large  kingdoms.  One 
is  the  frequency  of  natural  barriers  of  river,  forest, 
and  great  fields  of  high,  almost  impenetrable  grass, 
intervening  between  settlements.  The  other  obsta- 
cle consists  in  the  absence  of  any  means  of  rapid 
communication,  or  beast  of  burden  for  transporta- 
tion, that  would  enable  widely  separated  groups  to 
be  held  together.  The  small  groups  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  hide  and  this  renders  po- 
litical cohesion  almost  impossible,  and  at  the  same 
time  prevents  war  from  being  very  destructive.^^ 

On  some  accounts  we  should  expect  to  find  less 
despotic  governments  in  this  than  in  the  banana 
zone.  For  instance,  property  is  more  general,  and 
the  people  more  linked  to  the  soil.  These  conditions 
would  seem  to  foster  some  spirit  of  independence. 
Furthermore,  the  time  devoted  to  war  is  much  less 
than  in  the  banana  zone,  and  the  militarj^  organiza- 
tion is  less  powerful.  But  since  the  governments 
are  the  outcome  of  conquest,  and  since  the  con- 
quered have  to  be  constrained  to  till  the  soil,  those 

65  R.  H.  Fox  Bourne,  "Civilization  in  Congoland,"  London,  1903, 
p.  4. 

66  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  470. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE 


209 


who  rule  can  do  so  only  by  striking  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  their  subjects.^"^ 

Between  rulers  and  subjects  there  is  a  jealously 
maintained  barrier,  and  the  distinction  between 
master  and  slave  is  more  closely  drawn  than  in  the 
banana  zone.*^^  The  subjects  have  not  the  chance  of 
rising  to  the  top  common  to  hunting  or  pastoral  peo- 
ple. Unless  large  numbers  of  the  population  have 
an  opportunity  to  accumulate  property,  or  otherwise 
distinguish  themselves,  classes  always  tend  to  be- 
come fixed.^^  The  contrasts  in  types  do  not  favor 
free  social  intercourse;  and  the  economic  life  is  so 
uniform  and  simple,  and  the  facilities  for  communi- 
cation so  imperfect,  that  there  is  no  opportunity  for 
innovations  in  methods  and  ideas  that  would  favor 
emergence  from  the  understratum.  ^'Unlikeness  in 
the  constituents,"  says  Cooley,  *^a  settled  system, 
and  a  low  state  of  communication  and  enlightenment 
favor  the  growth  of  caste,  and  vice  versa.'^^ 

The  governments  of  this  zone  though  despotic  are 
rarely  personal.  Generally  there  is  a  council  com- 
posed mostly  of  royal  connections  which  decides 
questions  of  peace  and  war.''^^  The  Barotse  empire, 
however,  is  decidedly  personal,  and  contrasts  with 

67Richter,  p.  113. 

68\Yerne,  p.  255;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo/'  II, 
p.  685. 

69  Sumner,  p.  163. 

70  "Social  Organization,"  p.  217. 

71  Werne,  p.  261;  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II, 
p.  697. 


210  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


that  of  Lunda,  which  has  an  elective  monarch  and  a 
popular  assembly  in  which  every  one  can  freely  ex- 
press his  views.  The  monopoly  of  trade,  claimed 
everywhere  by  the  chief,  gives  him  great  power  over 
his  subjects. 

The  administration  of  justice  within  each  govern- 
ment varies  from  that  loose  state  in  which  griev- 
ances are  left  to  private  revenge  to  a  system  of 
rigid  legal  control.'^^  Murder,  adultery  and  theft 
are  the  chief  offenses  noticed  by  the  govern- 
ments. The  punishments  consist  of  amputation 
of  ears  and  hands,  or  execution  by  throwing  from 
a  precipice,  beating  or  stoning  to  death,  throat- 
cutting,  and  administration  of  the  poison  ordeal. 
The  death  penalty  is,  however,  rarely  inflicted  if  the 
accused  can  pay  damages."^^  In  some  cases  torture 
is  visited  upon  the  accused  to  force  confession.'^^ 

The  revenues  of  the  governments  are  derived 
from  ivory,  slaves,  salt,  cloth,  skins,  grain,  fruit, 
etcJ^  Formerly  the  kings  claimed  all  of  the  ivory, 
and  bought  slaves  from  starving  families  to  resell 
to  the  slave  trader,  but  since  the  arrest  of  the  slave 
trade  the  resources  of  the  kings  have  diminished, 
and  also  their  power  over  their  subjects.'^ 

72  Werne,  p.  264. 

"Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  696;  Mac- 
donald,  p.  110. 

74Macdonald,  p.  110;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  504;  In  the 
opinion  of  Welling  torture  represents  a  higher  stage  of  evolution 
than  the  ordeal,  as  the  former  is  applied  only  on  strong  evidence  of 
guilt.    "Law  of  Torture,"  p.  197. 

75  Ratzel,  II,  p.  559. 

76  Burton,  II,  p.  31;  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  L  p.  265. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  211 


Lack  of  economic  interdependence,  and  conse- 
quent lack  of  spirit  of  cooperation,  give  an  uncer- 
tain tenure  to  all  kingdoms.  ^^A  temporary  failure 
of  food-supply,  cruelty,  or  excessive  exaction  of 
tribute  on  part  of  the  cliief,  occasions  an  exodus. 
The  history  of  every  negro  tribe  in  Africa,  gives 
instances  of  such  secessions,  which  often  leave  whole 
districts  empty  and  exposed  to  the  next  wandering 
occupant. ' '  "^^ 

77  Semple,  p.  81. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BANTUS  OF  THE  MANIOC  ZONE  (contifiued) 

Religious  Life. — Religion  is  of  tlie  same  general 
character  as  that  of  the  banana  zone.  It  seems  to 
arise  out  of  the  notion  of  ghosts  as  the  survival  of 
the  soul  after  death,  and  leads  to  ancestor  worship.^ 
The  offerings  to  the  idols  are  intended  as  gifts  to  the 
departed  father  or  mother.^  The  surviving  spirits 
may  assume  human,  animal,  or  other  form,  and  pass 
to  the  rank  of  a  god.  Among  many  tribes  there  is  a 
belief  in  a  supreme  being  but  he  is  far  away  and 
receives  little  attention.  The  open  character  of 
much  of  the  country,  and  free  intercommunication, 
tend  to  acquaint  the  people  over  a  wide  area  with 
the  divinities  that  may  have  developed  local  signifi- 
cance. Usually  there  are  gods  of  the  sk}^,  sun, 
moon,  lightning,  etc.,  along  with  multitudinous 
minor  spirits  concerned  with  phenomena  closer  at 
hand.  More  attention  is  given  to  distant  or  cosmic 
gods  than  is  the  case  nearer  the  equator.  When 
man  locates  in  an  environment  where  the  warmth  of 
the  sun  is  necessary  to  personal  comfort,  and  to  the 
growth  and  ripening  of  crops,  his  interest  is  likely 

1  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa/'  p.  449. 

2  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  353;  Werne,  p.  54. 

212 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  213 


to  be  drawn  towards  the  gods  of  the  heavens. 
Sun-worship  and  fire-worship  are  to  be  expected 
in  such  a  region.  In  this  manioc  zone  fire-wor- 
ship is  very  general,  and  increases  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  temperate  climates.^  Attention  to  fire  is 
likely  to  lead  to  sun-worship  as  the  heat  of  the  sun 
naturally  suggests  that  terrestrial  fire  originated' 
from  the  celestial,  as  in  the  Greek  myth  of  Prome- 
theus's  bringing  fire  from  heaven. 

Probably  the  notion  of  beneficent  gods  arose  first 
in  connection  with  those  most  remote  from  man^s 
habitation,  since  the  notion  of  local  spirits,  even 
including  ancestral  spirits,  is  generally  associated 
with  malevolence  and  evil.* 

The  gods,  big  and  little,  take  a  zealous  interest  in 
human  events.  They  display  their  powers  in 
charms,  in  the  storms,  in  the  behavior  of  animals, 
in  the  growth  of  vegetation,  etc.  They  make  the 
luck  in  all  undertakings.  The  blacksmith  gets  a  bet- 
ter result  by  placing  a  bit  of  human  flesh  in  his 
forge.^  The  Mpongwe  keep  in  miniature  houses 
chests  containing  lime,  ochre,  etc.,  to  rub  on  the  skin 
as  protection  against  the  dangers  of  hunting  and 
fishing.  Crops  are  everywhere  guarded  by  medi- 
cine sticks.^  Man  must  consult  an  oracle  before  go- 
ing on  a  journey.  The  magician  in  charge  pours 
flour  on  a  flat  stone,  and  if  it  forms  a  perfect  cone 

3  Frobenius,  "Die  Weltanschauung  der  Natun'^olker,"  Beitrage  zur 
Volks-und  Volkerkunde,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  281,  285,  290. 
*  Macdonald,  p.  114. 

5  Katzel,  II,  p.  351. 

6  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  305. 


214  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


the  omen  is  good ;  or  lie  pours  beer  on  the  ground, 
and  if  it  sinks  in  one  spot  the  gods  are  propitiousJ 
In  any  expedition  if  a  rabbit  crosses  the  road  it  is  a 
sign  of  death  to  the  leader.^  The  Mpongwe  can  make 
strangers  more  friendly  by  giving  them  food  mixed 
with  the  scrapings  of  a  human  skull.^  The  ordeal 
sometimes  takes  the  place  of  a  troublesome  and  ex- 
pensive judiciary. 

Human  sacrifices  are  common  only  in  a  few  local- 
ities. They  are  rare  in  French  Congo,  and  do  not 
exist  south  of  the  Quanza  Eiver.^^  In  a  few  places 
wives  and  slaves  are  immolated  upon  the  death  of 
a  chief,  or  human  sacrifices  are  made  sometimes  to 
appease  a  god.^^  More  generally  sacrifices  are  lim- 
ited to  animals,  food  and  drink,  and  even  these  are 
not  offered  in  a  very  serious  spirit.  The  flesh  of 
sacrificial  animals  is  eaten.^^ 

Diseases  here,  as  elsewhere  in  Africa,  are  caused 
by  wicked  spirits  and  witches.  Deaths  are  mostly 
attributed  to  witchcraft,  but  sometimes  to  acci- 
dent. A  death  in  war  is  always  the  work  of  the 
gods.^^ 

There  are  two  kinds  of  medicine  men;  one  is  a 
genuine  healer,  and  the  other  a  wizard  who  makes 

TMacdonald,  p.  103. 

8  Ihid.,  p.  104. 

9  Ratzel,  III,  p.  131. 

10  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  306 ;  Johnston,  "On  the 
Races  of  the  Congo  and  the  Portuguese  Colonies,"  Jour.  Anthropo- 
logical  Institute,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  468. 

11  Cameron,  p.  333;  Maedonald,  pp.  106,  112;  Kallenberg,  p.  115. 
isMacdonald,  p.  106. 

13  Johnston,  "British  Ctentral  Africa,"  p.  439;  Ratzel,  II,  p.  351. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  215 


charms  and  ferrets  crime."  Botli  do  a  general  prac- 
tice, and  the  patient  decides  which  he  wants. The 
protective  charms,  says  Miss  Kingsley,  contain  all 
manner  of  nastiness,  including  a  large  percentage 
of  the  dung  of  fowl.^^  In  Central  Africa  the 
wizards  are  almost  as  thick  as  the  forest.  They  are 
of  both  sexes,  the  women  usually  taking  over  the 
medical  part  of  the  profession.^^  This  fact  sup- 
ports the  view  of  Thomas  that  the  profession  of  the 
physician  did  not  arise  entirely  from  the  medicine 
man,  as  Spencer  believed,  but  arose  partly  from  lay 
practitioners.^^ 

Persons  accused  of  witchcraft  must  undergo 
the  poison  ordeal  at  which  the  wizard  performs 
magic  rites  with  portions  of  human  bodies.^^  In 
French  Congo  the  wizard,  after  a  variety  of  cere- 
monies, induces  the  disease-causing  spirit  to  enter 
an  antelope  horn,  snail-shell  or  nut  kemeL^*^  Some 
doctors  make  incisions  in  the  flesh  and  rub  in  ashes 
to  kill  the  demon  of  disease.^^  The  wizard  is  often 
put  to  death  if  his  prescriptions  do  not  cure,  or  his 
predictions  fail,  or  some  calamity  be  charged  to  his 
art.22 

1*  Macdonald,  p.  104. 

15  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  442. 

16  ''Travels  in  West  Africa/'  p.  303. 

17  Burton,  II,  p.  350. 

18  "Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  284. 

19  Ratzel,  III,  p.  130. 

20  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  302. 

21  Macdonald,  p.  104. 

22  Burton,  II,  p.  351;  Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  I, 
p.  245. 


216  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


Idols  are  common  but  diminish  in  number  with 
the  distance  from  the  equator.-^ 

Ceremonial  Life. — The  large  groups  of  this  zone, 
with  their  di\dsion  into  a  free  and  slave  class  and 
their  rather  despotic  forms  of  government,  monotony 
of  existence  and  interest  in  supernatural  spirits, 
favor  a  high  degree  of  ceremonial.  The  people  have 
fixed  rules  for  eating,-*  ceremonials  for  the  birth 
of  children,^^  for  initiation  into  manhood,-'''^  for 
marriage,^^  for  the  purification  of  women  in  case 
they  give  birth  to  twins,^^^  for  deaths,  funerals,  and 
for  those  who  handle  a  corpse.^^  In  the  Congo  re- 
gion the  interval  between  death  and  burial,  and  the 
quantity  of  cloth  wrapped  around  a  corpse,  mark  the 
differences  in  the  rank  of  the  people.  The  body  of  a 
great  person  is  wrapped  in  voluminous  folds  of 
cloth,  pieces  of  which  are  almost  daily  added  to,  so 
as  to  conceal  any  signs  of  decomposition.  When 
too  large  for  the  house  in  which  it  is  contained  the 
building  is  taken  down  and  a  larger  one  erected. 
In  some  cases  eight  years  elapse  before  burial.^^ 
Funerals  are  celebrated  with  intoxication,  music, 
obscene  songs  and  lascivious  dances,  continuing  until 
late  in  the  night. In  the  Lunda  kingdom  the  new 

23  Cameron,  p.  308;  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  307; 
Ratzel,  II,  p.  352;  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  353. 
24Ratzel,  III,  p.  116. 

25  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  439. 
25a/6iff.,  p.  410.  28Romer,  p.  172. 

2Qlhid.,  p.  413.  29  Ibid.,  p.  173. 

26a.  Ibid.,  p.  418. 
27  Ibid.,  p.  443. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  217 


ruler  attends  the  funeral  of  the  deceased  followed  by 
a  concourse.  The  corpse  is  borne  in  a  chair,  adorned 
as  for  a  festival,  to  the  Kalangi  Eiver  where  the  pro- 
cession performs  all  sorts  of  ceremonies  and  magic 
rites.  New  fire  is  made  by  rubbing  a  stick,  and  a 
boy  and  girl  are  slain  as  sacrifice.^^  The  custom 
generally  prevails  of  placing  utensils,  bottles,  food, 
and  so  forth  upon  the  graves.^  ^  Fear  that  the  spirit 
of  the  dead  may  come  back  and  do  mischief  causes 
the  banana  trees  of  the  deceased  to  be  cut  down,  his 
pots  broken  and  his  hut  abandoned.^^  Sometimes 
mock  funerals  are  held  to  deceive  the  demons  that 
hover  about  the  sick.^^ 

*^The  life  of  an  African,''  says  Johnston, 
rigidly  ruled  by  custom.  He  is  more  of  a  slave  of 
custom  than  the  average  European.  .  .  .  All  the 
important  phases  and  functions  of  their  lives  are 
attended  with  special  customs,  almost  invariably  ex- 
pressed by  much  dancing,  and  brewing,  drinking, 
and  libations  of  native  beer.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  hoeing  season  feasts  are  held.  In  some  cases 
there  is  a  hoe  dance  wherein  the  dancers  carry  hoes 
which  they  strike  together  with  a  musical  clang,  in 
rhythm  with  the  beating  of  the  drums.  ...  No  im- 
portant journey  is  undertaken  without  small  sacri- 
fices to  ancestors  and  consulting  the  oracle  by  means 
of  the  small  divination  sticks."^* 

30Ratzel,  II,  p.  567. 

31  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  445. 

82/6ic?.,  p.  445. 

83Macdonald,  p.  114. 

84  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  452. 


218  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


In  Lunda  people  greet  each  other  by  hand-clap- 
ping, and  in  the  presence  of  a  great  personage  they 
prostrate  and  strew  themselves  with  dust.  Whis- 
tling and  howling  are  also  demonstrations  towards 
the  great.  Courtiers  wipe  up  the  saliva  where  the 
sovereign  spits,  and  when  he  sneezes  they  yell,  whis- 
tle and  pop  their  fingers.^^  In  some  localities  it  is 
disrespectful  to  allow  your  shadow  to  fall  on  any 
part  of  another  person.^^  Spitting  in  the  face  is  a 
mark  of  esteem  east  of  Tanganyika.^* 

Mourning  is  * '  by  a  persistent  beating  of  drums  by 
night  and  by  day,  and  also  by  a  continual  howling 
kept  up  by  relatives  and  others  of  whom  many  may 
be  hired  for  the  occasion.  .  .  .  Eela fives  shave  their 
heads.  Women  kneel  when  addressing  men, 

and  go  off  the  public  path  into  the  grass  or  bush 
when  they  meet  any  of  the  opposite  sex,  as  a  sign  of 
subordination  and  subjection. ' '  *  *  In  the  southern 
part  of  British  Central  Africa,"  says  Johnston,  *'the 
natives  kneel  and  clap  their  hands.  In  the  countries 
bordering  on  the  Portuguese  possessions  and  in 
Makualand,  the  natives  clap  their  hands  and  simul- 
taneously scrape  their  feet  backwards  along  the 
ground,  one  foot  at  a  time.  In  the  northern  dis- 
tricts of  Nyassa  and  thence  westward,  the  position 
in  salutation  is  most  extraordinary,  especially  if  it 
is  an  inferior  saluting  a  superior.    The  man  who  is 

ssRatzel,  IT,  p.  557. 

36  Livingstone,  "Last  Journals,"  I,  p.  291. 

37  Cameron,  p.  315. 

38  Macdonald,  p.  112. 
z»Ibid.,  p.  118. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  219 


greeting  yon  will  throw  himself  on  his  stomach  and 
smack  himself  violently  on  the  hinder  parts.'' 
Women  kneel  with  their  hands  placed  over  the  knees 
and  sometimes  wallow  at  a  man's  feet  and  endeavor 
to  place  his  foot  on  their  necks.  Suppliants  often  use 
a  phrase  *Ho  catch  the  leg,"  which  means  to  place 
the  foot  of  a  superior  on  your  neck.  This  phrase 
was  once  used  by  a  chief  who  had  been  defeated  in 
war  with  the  British.  He  sent  to  his  conqueror  a 
message  which  literally  translated  meant  that  he 
wanted  to  catch  the  Queen's  leg.*^ 

Court  ceremonies  and  other  spectacular  rites  are 
much  displayed  by  the  larger  kingdoms."*^ 

.ffisthetic  Life. — Mutilation  of  the  body,  in  one 
form  or  other,  is  common  in  this  zone,  but  seems  to 
diminish  in  the  direction  of  the  south.  The  Ovampo 
of  both  sexes  knock  out  one  of  the  upper  incisors. 
Other  tribes  knock  out  the  lower  incisors  or  file  their 
teeth  to  a  point.^-  Tattooing  or  cicatrisation  is  also 
common,  and  is  sometimes  used  as  a  tribal  mark.^^ 
It  diminishes  towards  the  south,  and  is  absent  on  the 
West  Coast  below  the  Quanza.^*  Some  women  wear 
a  nose  ornament  of  bone,  ivory  or  silver.^^  Living- 
stone observed  a  man  sewing  feathers  on  his  arrow 

40  Johnston,  ''British  Central  Africa,"  p.  407. 

41  Ratzel,  III,  p.  126. 

42Ratzel,  II,  pp.  542,  545;  III,  pp.  130,  555;  Werner,  p.  38;  John- 
ston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  424. 

43Ratzel,  III,  p.  132;  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  422. 

44  Johnston,  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and  the  Portuguese  Col- 
onies," Jour.  Anthropological  Institute,  XIII,  p.  468. 

45  Weule,  p.  49 ;  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  423. 


220 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


wlio  was  using  the  hole  in  the  cartilage  of  his  nose  to 
hold  his  needle.**^  Sometimes  metal  ornaments  are 
worn  in  the  npper  lip.^'  Much  attention  is  given  to 
hair  dressing  which  takes  on  a  variety  of  styles  in- 
cluding the  plastering  of  the  hair  with  mud.^^  The 
Barotse  use  their  matted  hair  as  a  pin-cushion  or 
substitute  for  a  pocket.^^  Like  all  other  savages 
the  people  love  to  bedeck  themselves  with  necklaces, 
rings,  bracelets  and  anklets.^^  The  ornamentation 
of  weapons  and  utensils,  in  many  places,  reaches  a 
degree  of  excellence.^ ^  In  British  Central  Africa 
pottery  is  not  much  ornamented,  but  in  the  Upper 
Congo  it  takes  on  an  artistic  finish.  **The  Baluba 
and  Bakuba  peoples  of  the  south-center,'*  says  John- 
ston, ''are  steeped  in  artistic  feeling,  which  finds  its 
expression  in  the  carving  of  masks  out  of  solid  blocks 
of  wood,  exquisite  iron  metal-work,  the  beautiful  pat- 
terns of  their  pile  cloths,  and  the  fantastic  de- 
signs and  coloration  of  their  pottery.''^-  The 
Barotse  paint  animals  and  men  in  a  variety  of  as- 
pects.^^ 

The  dress  of  the  people  has  undergone  consider- 
able change  since  the  importation  of  European 

46  "Last  Journal,"  I,  p.  289. 

47  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  423. 

48  Stanley,  "Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  II,  p.  82;  Cameron, 
p.  376. 

49  Riehter,  p.  79. 

50  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  5.85 ;  Stigand, 
p.  119. 

siRatzel,  "History  of  Mankind,"  II.  p.  550;  III,  pp.  44,  45,  126. 

52  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  811. 

53  Riehter,  p.  162. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  221 


goods.  Formerly  it  was  limited  mostly  to  a  loin- 
strip  of  bark,  native  cotton-cloth  or  skin,  and  this 
is  still  the  dress  over  a  large  area,^^  but  the  prevail- 
ing dress  is  of  imported  calico.^^  The  Mpongwe 
belles  step  proudly  in  white  stockings.  On  the 
Congo  Coast  the  natives  wear  a  cap  made  of  dry 
grass  or  a  handkerchief  worn  as  a  turban.^^  The 
Barotse  wear  sandals  for  long  joumeys.^^ 

Dancing  takes  on  a  variety  of  forms.  As  soon 
as  dark  comes  the  people  assemble  to  enjoy  this 
exercise.^^  Evidences  of  the  drama  seem  to  be  lack- 
ing. The  musical  instruments  include  the  guitar, 
harp,  drum,  horn,  banjo,  reed,  flute  and  a  sort  of 
piano  called  the  marimbo.^^  Among  the  Zambesi 
tribes  the  musicians  are  organized  into  bands,  and 
in  some  of  the  kingdoms  the  royal  musicians  live  in 
a  special  house.*^^  Herbert  Spencer  advanced  the 
theory  that  the  professional  musician  and  dancer 
evolved  from  the  medicine  man  or  priest,  but  there 
seems  to  be  no  evidence  to  support  this  theory  in 
Africa.  They  probably  originated  independently  as 
clearly  shown  by  Thomas.*'^    Weapons  and  imple- 

84  Schweinitz,  p.  141. 

55  Weule,  p.  274;  Scliweinitz,  p.  141. 

36  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  597 ;  Milligan, 
p.  34. 

57  Richter,  p.  78. 

58  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  411;  Weule,  p.  181;  Sti- 
gand,  p.  121. 

50  Milligan,  p.  77;  Gressfeldt,  p.  215;  Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Liv- 
ingstone," I,  p.  549. 
eoRatzel,  II,  p.  550. 
61  "Source  Book  for  Origins,"  p.  287. 


222  THE  NEGEO  EACES 

ments  are  generally  ornamented.^-  In  several  dis- 
tricts carving  in  wood  and  ivory  is  well  developed.^^ 
Human  and  animal  tigures  are  cut  on  pipes  and 
knobkerries.^^  The  Baluba  and  Bakuba  are  espe- 
cially good  carvers.^^ 

Psychological  Characteristics. — Both  the  cranial 
capacity  and  the  conformation  of  the  skull  seem  to 
improve  somewhat  as  one  goes  south  from  the  equa- 
tor.^^  Whether  this  is  true  or  not  there  is  a 
decidedly  higher  mental  development  in  the  manioc 
than  in  the  banana  zone.  The  superiority  is  due 
partly  to  the  greater  amount  and  variety  of  mental 
work  imposed  by  the  environment,  and  partly  to 
the  infusion  of  the  blood  of  the  pastoral  people  of 
the  south. 

The  instinct  of  pugnacity  here,  as  in  the  banana 
zone,  is  not  conspicuous,  because  of  the  terrifying 
aspects  of  nature.  Agricultural  life  rather  makes 
people  timid  or  averse  to  personal  antagonisms.^^ 

The  instinct  of  curiosity  is  stronger  here  than  in 

62E,ichter,  p.  88. 

63  Werne,  p.  203. 

64  Ratzel,  II,  p.  543. 

65  Johnston,  "George  Grenfell  and  the  Congo,"  II,  p.  811. 


66  "The  cranial  capacity  of  the  Bantu 

In  Corisco  is  1,225  c.c. 

In  Congo  is  1,400  c.c. 

In  Loanda  is  1,670  c.c. 

In  Angola  is  1,510  c.c. 

In  Massamedes  is  (Hottentot  mixture)   1.235  c.  c." 


Shrubsall,  "A  Study  of  A-Bantu  Skulls  and  Crania,"  Jour.  Anthropo- 
logical Institute,  n.  s.  Vol.  I,  p.  75. 
67  Milligan,  pp.  36-37. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE 


223 


tlie  banana  zone.  In  the  lowest  societies  it  is  latent, 
because  there  is  little  to  excite  it,  but,  as  the  life  of 
the  people  becomes  more  complex  and  the  work  more 
varied,  there  arise  more  occasions  to  be  inquisitive, 
to  speculate,  and  more  mysteries  appear,  calling  for 
explanation.  The  wealth  of  myths  of  the  people 
of  this  zone  attests  their  curiosity. 

The  instinct  of  fear  is  somewhat  less  pronounced 
here  than  in  the  banana  zone,  for  the  reason  that 
nature  is  less  antagonistic,  and  human  life  not  so 
much  exposed  to  violence.  All  restraints,  however, 
that  enter  into  the  moral  system  of  the  people  seem 
to  be  based  upon  fear.  Sexual  continence,  respect 
for  property,  and  obedience  to  law  and  the  gods  are 
more  the  outcome  of  fear  than  of  any  abstract  con- 
siderations. Of  the  petitions  of  the  natives  to  their 
gods,  Dr.  Nassau  says,  'Hhese  are  distinctly  prayers, 
appeals  for  mercy,  agonizing  protests,  but  there  is 
no  praise,  no  thanks  and  no  confession  of  sin.'*^^ 

The  acquisitive  instinct  is  more  noticeably  de- 
veloped in  this  zone.  The  great  social  power  con- 
nected with  slaves  and  grain  is  especially  stimula- 
ting to  man's  love  of  possessions.  This  instinct, 
according  to  McDougall,  is  more  pronounced  among 
agricultural  than  among  pastoral  people.  Among 
pastoral  nomads,"  he  says,  '^the  working  of  the  in- 
stinct is  manifested  in  the  vast  herds  sometimes  ac- 
cumulated by  a  single  patriarchal  family.  But  it 
was  only  when  agriculture  began  to  be  extensively 
practiced  that  the  instinct  could  produce  its  greatest 

68  Kingsley,  "Travels  in  West  Africa,"  p.  308, 


224 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


social  effects.  For  grain  of  all  sorts  lends  itself 
especially  well  to  hoarding  as  a  form  of  wealth. ''^^ 
The  great  social  value  of  this  instinct  is  that 
it  does  not  stop  at  the  satisfaction  of  one's  needs 
but  spurs  man  to  continuous  activity.  Neither 
savages  nor  civilized  people  cease  striving  when 
they  have  enough  to  satisfy  their  practical  needs, 
if  the  climate  does  not  enervate.  A  certain  physical 
vitality  as  well  as  the  stimulus  of  possession  is 
necessary  to  arouse  men  to  activity ."^^  In  modem 
civilized  societies  the  acquisitive  instinct  is  rather 
over-stimulated.'^^  In  the  manioc  zone  the  climate 
restrains  it. 

In  foresight,  inhibiting  power,  rational  interpre- 
tation and  general  intelligence  the  superiority  of 
the  manioc  people  is  conspicuous.  They  are  keen 
and  clever  in  trade."^-  *'The  Abunda,  or  Quanza'' 
says  Johnston,  *^are  remarkably  smart  and  intelli- 
gent."^^ Witchcraft  and  magic  play  a  diminish- 
ing role  as  one  goes  south  from  the  banana  zone,^^ 
and  also  human  sacrifices  diminish.^^  In  the  treat- 
ment of  disease  there  is  less  hocus-pocus  and  more 
drugs  and  concoctions.^^  The  imagination  of  the 
people  is  fantastic  and  picturesque  rather  than  gross. 

69  Page  313. 

70  Bain,  p.  193. 

71  Ellwood,  "Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects,"  p.  227. 

72  Stanley,  "How  I  Found  Livingstone,"  I,  p.  541. 

73  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and  the  Portuguese  Colonies,"  Jour. 
Anthropological  Institute,  XIII,  p.  466. 

'J^Ibid.,  p.  468. 
t^Ilid.,  p.  468. 

76  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,**  p.  440;  Eichter,  p.  191. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  225 


This  is  shown  in  their  animal  legends  wherein  the 
hare  wears  the  head  of  a  man,  marries  an  elephant, 
and  is  made  to  eat  flesh ;  the  lion  to  cook  bread,  the 
frog  to  hoe  corn,  and  men  and  beasts  to  intermarryj^ 

The  feelings  of  the  manioc  people  are  not  so  ex- 
plosive as  those  of  the  banana  zone  people.  The 
sedentary  agricultural  life  is  not  so  full  of  strong 
excitements  as  that  of  the  hunting  and  fighting  life, 
and  the  climate  is  not  so  irritating  in  its  oppressive 
heat,  nor  so  violent  in  its  manifestations;  but  the 
number  and  variety  of  excitements  are  greater,  and 
this  accustoms  the  people  to  some  degree  of  control 
over  their  feelings.  Occasional  and  severe  de- 
mands upon  feeling  everywhere  explain  its  excess. 
The  predominant  mood  of  the  people  is  that  of  ex- 
pansiveness,  induced  by  the  relatively  quiet  and 
contented  life.  This  mood  is  shown  in  the  great  at- 
tention to  music. 

The  morals  within  the  kinship  group  appear  to 
differ  little  from  those  of  similar  groups  elsewhere 
in  Africa.  As  these  primary  groups  are  often  pro- 
tected by  the  larger  political  organization,  the  rela- 
tions of  individuals  within  them  should  be  more  re- 
fined. The  elemental  virtues  of  aifection,  sympathy, 
and  truthfulness  towards  each  other  are  prom- 
inenf^^  Latrobe  Bateman  said  of  the  Bashil- 
ange,  ^^They  are  thoroughly  honest,  brave  to  fool- 
hardiness  and  faithful  to  each  other.  .  .  .  They  are 
warm-hearted  and  affectionate  toward  their  friends 

77  Richter,  p.  168. 

78Milligan,  p.  36;  Cameron,  p.  248. 


226  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


and  especially  tlieir  kinfolk,  and  are  the  only  Afri- 
can tribe  amongst  whom,  in  their  primitive  state, 
I  have  observed  anything  like  a  becoming  conjugal 
affection  and  regard/'  Parental  love  is  probably 
as  deep  here  as  among  civilized  people  but  of  shorter 
duration.  Under  the  simple  African  life  children 
soon  learn  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  they  separate 
early  from  their  parents.  An  indifference  thus 
grows  up  between  them  which  shows  itself  in  the 
frequent  abandonment  of  the  aged.  Of  the  people 
about  Luebo,  Rev.  De  Witt  Snyder  says,  parental 
love  is  here  merely  an  instinct  to  protect  and  pro- 
vide for  their  children,  like  that  of  dumb  brutes  for 
their  offspring.  The  aged  and  sick  are  left  to  take 
care  of  themselves  and  die  unattended. Inat- 
tention to  the  sick  is  often  due  more  to  ignorance 
and  superstition  than  to  coldness  of  heart. 

Man  is  a  little  more  cheerful  and  light-hearted 
here  than  in  the  equatorial  regions.^^  **In  an  open 
country,"  says  Cureau,  *^man  is  gay,  exuberant  and 
loves  noise  and  music. " 

The  Bantu  of  this  region  have  a  lively  sense  of 
humor  but  it  is  not  of  a  high  order.  Among  civil- 
ized people  there  is  a  humor,  well  illustrated  in  the 
person  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  fortifies  against 
adversit^^  and  despair.  It  belongs  to  a  forceful  type 
of  character,  and  is  the  work  of  the  imagination 

79  Page  G. 

80  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  XVI,  n.  s.,  p.  185. 

81  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa,"  p.  408  j  Macdonald,  p. 
109. 

82  Page  648. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE  227 


in  calling  up  images  to  compensate  for  a  vexatious 
state  of  mind.^^  The  Negro  lacks  the  mental  energy 
or  constructive  imagination  for  this  fortifying  task. 

The  people  of  this  zone  are  more  hospitable  and 
considerate  of  strangers,  and  show  more  fellow-feel- 
ing towards  those  outside  the  kinship  groups  than 
is  common  among  the  Negro  peoples  of  Africa.^* 

Most  of  the  traits  manifested  in  this  zone  bear  a 
closer  resemblance  to  those  of  the  people  in  the 
zone  of  the  banana  than  the  conditions  of  the  en- 
vironment would  seem  to  justify,  and  the  explana- 
tion is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  fundamental 
population  of  this  zone  migrated  from  the  zone 
above  where  they  received  their  impress. 

Contact  with  the  white  man  has  scarcely  improved 
the  status  of  the  natives.  Crime  among  them  has 
increased  at  a  frightful  rate,^^  and  the  high  mortal- 
ity is  depopulating  whole  districts.^^  Of  the  white 
man's  influence  in  the  Congo,  Bourne  says,  *'From 
the  first  the  predominating  influences  and  achieve- 
ments have  been  degrading,  not  elevating.  What- 
ever advantages  to  the  natives  may  have  resulted 
from  missionary  efforts  and  scientific  inquiries  and 
travelers'  pastimes,  the  chief  aim  and  the  chief  at- 
tainment of  the  white  man's  intrusion  in  Congoland 
have  been  not  the  natives '  profit  but  their  own.  So  it 
was  in  the  early  days,  when  only  the  otherwise  unin- 

83  Williams,  p.  753. 

84  Cureau  believea  that  an  open  country  causes  man's  nature  to 
expand  and  become  more  generous  and  loyal.    (Page  648.) 

ssBoulger,  p.  263. 
fisMilligan,  p.  42. 


228  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


viting  coasts  were  scoured  in  order  to  provide  Ameri- 
can and  other  sugar  plantations  and  cotton  fields 
with  slaves,  for  whom  the  payment,  if  any  was  paid, 
principally  consisted  of  poisonous  liquors  and  more 
immediately  destructive  implements  of  war.  So  it  is 
now,  when  all  accessible  regions  in  the  interior  are 
scoured  for  ivory  and  rubber  and  so  forth;  with 
tools  and  textile  fabrics  added  to  the  rum  and  rifles, 
the  gin  and  gunpowder  which  were  the  former 
staples  of  trade.  If  the  over-sea  slave  traffic  has 
been  suppressed  and  the  enslavement  of  one  native 
by  another  forbidden,  the  old  forms  of  slavery  have 
been  succeeded  or  supplemented  by  new,  more  grind- 
ing and  hateful  to  the  victims,  and  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  white  instead  of  black  oppressors.  Savage 
customs  and  institutions  have  been  condemned  and 
interfered  with  in  so  far  as  they  proved  inconven- 
ient to  the  usurpers  of  land  and  its  produce,  but  for 
the  most  part  with  nothing  but  increase  of  savagery. 
Under  Congo  State  rule,  if  nowhere  else,  the  tribes 
most  prone  to  killing  and  eating  their  neighbors 
have  been  allowed  to  continue  and  extend  their  can- 
nibalism; and  the  Congo  State  has  only  been  more 
reckless  and  unscrupulous  than  its  British,  French, 
German  and  Portuguese  associates  in  training  and 
arming  the  most  warlike  for  fighting  and  slaughter- 
ing purposes  of  their  own.'^^^  The  poor  re- 
sults of  missionary  work  have  been  due,  partly  to 
the  evil  influences  of  European  governmental  action 
and  of  industrial  exploiters,  and  partly  to  lack  of 

ST  Page  300. 


THE  MANIOC  ZONE 


229 


understanding  of  Negro  psychology  wMcli  has  led 
to  a  wrong  method  of  education.  The  way  to  in- 
fluence character  is  to  begin  with  the  practical  life, 
not  with  the  theoretical  and  abstract;  with  conduct 
and  feeling,  and  not  with  belief  and  book-learning. 
^^Our  faith  in  the  power  of  book  learning, says 
Sumner,  *4s  excessive  and  unfounded.  It  is  a 
superstition  of  the  age.  The  education  which  forms 
character  and  produces  faith  in  sound  principles  of 
life  comes  through  personal  influence  and  example. 
It  is  borne  on  the  mores.  It  is  taken  in  from  the 
habits  and  atmosphere  of  a  school,  not  from  school 
text-books.'^  .  .  .  *'Book  learning  is  addressed  to 
the  intellect,  not  to  the  feelings,  but  the  feelings  are 
the  spring  of  action. ' '  One  difficulty  in  the  educa- 
tion of  children  in  Africa  is  that  at  the  age  of  pu- 
berty they  tend  to  *^fall  into  disappointing  nullity,*' 
on  account  of  their  absorption  in  sexual  interests.^^ 

Think  of  the  thousands  of  noble-minded  men 
and  women,"  says  Miss  Kingsley,  ^*who  since  1490 
have  gone  and  lived  and  died  in  Africa,  in  the  cause 
of  evangelisation  of  Africa.  Call  these  mission- 
aries what  you  may — you  have  no  right  to  deny  that 
their  constant  aim  has  been  the  elevation  of  the  Af- 
rican. Look  back  at  the  effects  of  similar  efforts 
made  by  Christianity  on  the  Teutonic  tribes  of 
Europe  and  you  see  its  success — then  look  at  the 
history  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  mission  to  Congo,  a 
mission  that  for  200  years  held  these  Africans  com- 

«8Page  629. 

89  Johnston,  "British  Central  Africa/*  p.  408. 


230  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


pletely  in  its  arms,  and  look  at  the  Congo  native 
to-day  in  tlie  regions  that  mission  ruled.  The  mis- 
sionary attempt  to  elevate  the  African  mass  seems 
like  unto  cutting  a  path  through  a  bit  of  African 
forest :  you  can  cut  a  very  nice  tidy  path  there,  and, 
as  long  as  you  are  there  to  keep  it  clear,  it's  all  a 
path  need  be,  but  leave  it  and  it  goes  to  bush." 

The  most  recent  book  on  Africa  (1912),  by  Joseph 
K.  Goodrich,  speaks  of  the  present  status  and  future 
of  the  Negro  as  follows : 

*^Yet  the  march  of  civilization,  if  it  has  not  ac- 
tually displaced  the  blacks  by  whites,  has  so  trans- 
formed the  conditions  under  which  they  lived  that 
there  is  little  left  of  the  old  life ;  and  it  is  a  lamen- 
table fact  that  the  present  status  of  the  natives  is, 
all  things  considered,  worse  than  was  the  former. 
It  is  an  unfortunate  concomitant  of  European  civil- 
ization that  its  first  impress  has,  almost  without  ex- 
ception, been  disastrous  to  the  people  of  a  lower  de- 
gree of  culture  than  the  European  standards,  or 
essentially  different  from  them  in  kind,  even  when 
there  was  a  reasonable  comparison  in  degree.  If 
we  look  at  any  part  of  the  world  to  which  the  ad- 
venturous European  explorers  and  navigators  went 
in  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
we  must  admit,  if  we  are  honest,  that  the  first  touch 
of  that  civilization  was  blighting.  For  every  sin- 
cere bearer  of  the  banner  of  the  Prince  of  Peace 
there  were  a  hundred  reckless  buccaneers,  without 
one  thought  of  the  physical  or  spiritual  welfare  of 

»o  Symposium  on  "British  Africa,"  II,  p.  374. 


ME  MANIOC  ZONE  231 


tiie  'savage  heathen'  whom  they  met;  whose  sole 
object  was  to  get  wealth,  the  means  being  unimpor- 
tant; whose  fierce  lust  held  no  woman  in  respect, 
and  whose  determination  to  seize  slaves  was  stopped 
by  nothing.  It  was  so  in  the  case  of  Africa. 
Down  both  coasts  the  European  civilization 
marched,  one  missionary  disposed  to  recognize  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  and  a  hundred  freebooters  in- 
sistent that  to  the  victors  belonged  the  spoils,  and 
they  took  them  in  any  way  they  could  and  in  every 
shape  they  found  them, — gold,  ivory,  slaves,  what- 
ever there  was  that  could  be  converted  into 
money.  .  .  . 

* 'Again,  it  seems  to  the  native  that  it  is  very  easy 
to  earn,  by  doing  some  little  odd  task  for  the  Euro- 
pean, the  pittance  which  suffices  to  keep  him  alive 
for  a  few  days.  That  much  secured,  there  is  no  oc- 
casion to  worry  about  the  future,  and  he  'knocks 
off'  all  work  until  his  purse  is  once  more  empty  and 
his  stomach  calling  for  food.  The  same  statement 
which  has  been  made  about  the  Fulas  may  be  re- 
peated here  as  applicable  to  both  sides  of  the  con- 
tinent as  well  as  all  across  the  broad  zone  in  which 
the  true  negroes  are  found :  the  people  are  examples 
of  bad  results  arrived  at  when  a  strange  civilization 
has  become  dominant  and  yet  is  not  properly  as- 
similated by  the  natives.  The  present  state  of  the 
African  Negro  is,  in  nearly  every  respect,  decidedly 
worse  than  was  the  first.  The  exploiting  of  this 
country,  the  establishing  of  steamboat  lines  on  the 
rivers  and  lakes,  the  building  of  railways  all  over 


232  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


the  continent,  have  made  it  easier  for  the  people  to 
gratify  their  natural  fondness  for  moving  about — 
simply  to  be  on  the  go,  for  business  they  have  none 
— and  they  yield  most  readily;  but  the  assimilation 
of  the  civilization  that  all  this  development  connotes 
has  not  attained  the  level  which  those  who  wish  the 
negro  well  would  like  to  see.  Of  other  conditions, 
such  as  the  horrors  of  the  Belgian  Congo,  and  other 
places  where  they  are  somewhat  similar,  yet  not 
quite  so  bad,  we  will  not  speak  further  here.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  is  the  influence  of  the  acts  of 
Europeans  which  has  brought  about  such  condi- 
tions, and  which  would  keep  them  alive  indefinitely 
were  it  not  for  public  sentiment,  of  which  the  Af- 
rican negro,  who  is  the  real  sufferer,  knows  nothing. 
All  this  must  do  more  to  counteract  the  altruistic 
efforts  of  missionary  and  teacher  than  has  been  ac- 
complished for  permanent  good  in  the  way  of  evan- 
gelisation at  all  the  mission  stations  throughout 
Central  Africa  put  together.  Nominally  the  slave 
trade  has  been  abolished,  but  it  is  true  that  festering 
spots  still  exist — a  disgrace  to  our  vaunted  Chris- 
tian civilisation. 

*'0f  the  future  for  the  blacks  in  Africa  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  speak.  Pessimistic  as  it  sounds,  the  present 
writer  looks  upon  it  as  likely  to  be  hopeless  in  the 
extreme.'^ 

91  Pages  228-231. 


CHAPTEE  XIX 


THE  BANTUS  OF  THE  SOUTHEKN  CATTLE  ZONE 

Description  of  the  Zone. — The  cattle  zone  lies  im- 
mediately south  of  the  manioc  zone,  and,  before  the 
white  man's  appearance,  it  included  all  of  South  Af- 
rica except  the  Kalahari  desert.  In  contour  South 
Africa  exhibits  the  character  common  to  the  whole 
continent,  in  that  it  is  an  elevated  plateau  in  the  cen- 
ter surrounded  on  the  coasts  by  irregular  ranges  of 
mountains. 

The  amount  of  rainfall  in  the  interior  diminishes 
according  to  distance  from  the  equator,  and  at  the 
line  marking  the  entrance  into  the  cattle  zone  it  is 
very  slight  and  limited  mostly  to  the  winter  season. 
Then  downpours  flood  the  country,  filling  all  of  the 
streams,  lakes  and  pools.  Many  of  the  rivers,  on 
account  of  the  general  level  of  the  country  and  the 
burning  rays  of  the  sun,  lose  their  moisture  by  evap- 
oration before  reaching  a  perennial  coastward  ef- 
fluent. Near  the  coast  on  all  sides  the  rain  is  more 
abundant,  feeding  numerous  streams  and  giving 
great  fertility  to  the  soils  near  which  they  traverse.^ 
The  climate  of  the  coast  districts  is  temperate,  while 
that  of  the  interior  is  marked  by  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold  and  more  sudden  changes.^ 

1  Hahn,  p.  135.  2  Reclus,  IV,  pp.  225,  254. 

233 


234  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


Vegetation  in  tlie  various  districts  varies  with  the 
amount  of  rain  and  the  moisture  along  the  rivers 
and  lakes.  In  the  mountains  bordering  the  coasts 
and  on  the  coast  plains  vegetation  is  abundant  and 
even  often  luxuriant,  with  great  areas  of  woodland; 
but  inland,  trees  follow  the  streams  and  depressions, 
and  rarely  assume  the  aspect  of  forest.  Much  of 
the  country  resembles  a  boundless  prairie  with  here 
and  there  a  few  wooded  islets  rising  above  the  tall 
waving  grass.  In  some  places  nothing  can  be 
seen  except  thorny  plants  and  dreary  wastes  of 
sand.^ 

This  part  of  Africa  once  abounded  in  game,  such 
as  the  lion,  buffalo,  giraff,  rhinoceros,  hyena,  jackal, 
antelope,  elephant,  and  hippopotamus.*  The  larger 
game  is  now  disappearing  under  the  advances  of  the 
white  man  and  the  use  of  modern  guns. 

The  Inhabitants. — ^All  of  the  Negroes  of  this  zone 
belong  to  the  Bantu  except  the  Hottentots,  who  re- 
semble in  language  and  type  the  Bushmen  of  the  Kal- 
ahari desert.  The  chief  subdivisions  are  the  Zulu, 
Kafir,  Makololo,  Matebele,  Bechuana,  Bakalahari, 
Mashona,  Basuto,  Damara  and  Ova-Herero.  The 
term  Kafir  is  often  used  to  cover  all  Bantus  of  South 
Africa. 

The  Zulu  are  the  best  physical  type  of  the  southern 
tribes.  They  are  above  the  mean  Negro  height. 
Their  figures  are  shapely  and  muscular,  and  their 
face-features  very  little  negroid.  In  many  cases 
their  nose  is  regular  instead  of  flat.    Their  skin 

3  76  id.,  pp.  240,  242.  *  Moffat,  pp.  163,  523. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  235 


varies  from  a  light,  clear  brown  to  blue  black.^  The 
superiority  of  the  Zulu  is  due  mainly  to  the  Galla 
blood  infused  by  immigration  from  the  north. 

The  Bechuana  are  more  or  less  mixed  with  Hot- 
tentot blood,  and  represent  a  more  negroid  type, 
while  the  Bakalahari  show  a  still  more  marked  Hot- 
tentot mixture.^ 

The  Herero  show  a  marked  approximation  to  the 
Caucasian.  Their  heads  are  less  elongated,  the 
cheek-bones  less  prominent,  and  the  lips  less  everted 
than  is  the  case  with  the  average  Bantu."^  The  su- 
periority of  the  Herero  is  due  to  their  probable  im- 
migration from  the  Galla  tribes  of  Central  Africa. 

The  other  tribes  of  South  Africa  show  varying 
degrees  of  mixture  between  the  invading  Galla  type 
and  the  aboriginal  Negro.  Almost  everywhere  the 
substratum  of  the  population  is  a  darker  and  more 
negroid  type.  Generally  the  lighter  colored  tribes 
are  near  the  coast  and  more  distant  from  the  equa- 
tor, and  this  fact  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
climate  had  had  some  effect  in  bleaching  the  skin. 

Economic  Life. — The  life  of  the  people  of  this  zone 
revolves  about  the  cattle  pen.**  In  the  center 
of  each  village  is  a  circular  inclosure  for  cattle. 

5  Keane,  "Man:  Past  and  Present,'*  p.  100;  Fritscli,  pp.  13-25; 
Deniker,  p.  467. 

6  Deniker,  p.  405. 

7  Ratzel,  II,  p.  467 ;  Johnston,  "On  the  Races  of  the  Congo  and  the 
Portuguese  Colonies,"  Jour.  Anthropological  Institute,  Vol.  XllI, 
p.  464. 

sTheal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  Africa,"  I,  p.  154;  Conder, 
p.  82. 


236  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


The  huts  of  the  people  are  arranged  around  the  in- 
closure.  The  cattle  are  prized  mainly  for  their 
milk,  which  is  used  generally  in  a  sour  state.  When 
occasionally  an  ox  is  slain  for  food  it  is  consumed 
gluttonously.  A  family  of  four  or  five  people  can 
eat  a  whole  carcass  in  a  day  and  a  half.  Some  tribes 
have  in  addition  to  the  cattle  a  quantity  of  sheep  and 
goats,  while  other  tribes  have  neither  sheep,  goats 
nor  cattle.^  The  invading  hordes  of  Zulu,  Matebele 
and  Makololo  that  swept  over  a  great  area  of  South 
Africa  destroyed  or  captured  the  cattle  in  many 
tribes  and  left  in  their  devastated  path  only  a  few 
dogs  and  chickens.^^  The  natives  so  bereft  were 
forced  to  take  up  agriculture. 

The  pastoral  people  supplement  their  diet  of  milk 
by  a  variety  of  vegetables  and  fruits.  The  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  is  imposed  upon  slave  men  and 
women,  or  serfs  who  live  in  villages  to  themselves.*^ 
Near  the  cattle  kraal  are  patches  of  ground  for  rais- 
ing maize  (Kafir  corn),  millet,  rice,  melons,  pump- 
kins, hemp,  tobacco,  etc.^-  The  season  for  plant- 
ing is  fixed  by  the  chief,  and  the  women  sow  the  grain 
to  the  accompaniment  of  shouts  and  singing.*^  The 
grain  harvested  is  stored  in  holes  dug  in  the  middle 
of  the  cow  pen,  or  in  baskets  or  in  clay  jars.  The 
latter  are  eight  to  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  about  the 

»  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  416,  455. 

loRatzel,  Ibid.,  p.  505. 

n  Moffat,  p.  390;  Reclus,  IV,  p.  229. 

12  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  147 ; 
Bent,  p.  258. 

13  Ratzel,  II,  p.  433. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  237 


same  height,  and  they  rest  upon  a  circle  of  stones. 
Grain  doesn't  often  last  to  the  next  season  on  ac- 
count of  the  weevil.^*  Vast  areas  of  rich  soil  have 
gone  to  waste  on  account  of  the  devastating  hordes 
of  cattle-lifters  that  have  overrun  the  country/^ 
Some  tribes,  owing  to  the  loss  of  their  cattle  and  the 
undependable  character  of  agriculture,  have  been  re- 
duced to  desperate  extremities  for  food,  and  are  glad 
to  subsist  upon  mice,  caterpillars,  or  kernels  that 
pass  undigested  from  the  elephant.^^  The  Tongas, 
having  lost  their  cattle  by  raiders,  consult  the 
flight  of  vultures  in  order  to  take  part  in  the  carrion 
feast.''  In  the  far  interior  where  water  is  scarce 
it  sometimes  happens  that  men,  women  and  oxen, 
coming  unexpectedly  upon  a  pool  or  creek,  enter  into 
a  general  scramble  for  the  refreshing  draught.^^  A 
popular  drink  among  the  prosperous  tribes  is  a  beer 
made  of  millet  or  maize. 

In  the  industrial  arts  the  pastors  are  behind  the 
tribes  of  Central  Africa,  except  that  in  iron-work 
they  maintain  the  general  average  of  excellence. 
The  Zulu  cutlery  is  sometimes  ranked  with  that  of 
England.-^  The  pastors  manufacture  their  kaross 
from  various  skins ;  they  make  sacks  of  ox-hides  for 
milk,  make  pottery,  plaited  dishes,  baskets,  mats, 

14  Bent,  p.  86 ;  Moffat,  p.  399. 

1-5  Moffat,  pp.  269,  523;  Reclus,  IV,  p.  236. 

16  Ratzel,  II,  p.  476. 

17  Reclus,  IV,  p.  230. 

18  Moffat,  p.  387. 

19  Bent,  p.  58;  Conder.  p.  82. 

20  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  421,  430. 


238 


THE  NEGRO  RACES 


stools,  hoes,  lances,  axes,  knives,  etc.  Excellent 
wood  carving  is  done  in  Mashonaland.^^ 

The  pastoral  groups  are  so  far  self-sustaining 
that  there  is  little  development  of  trade.  Where 
untouched  by  European  innovations  they  have  no 
regular  roads  and  no  bridges,  and  the  only  instru- 
ments of  transportation  are  porters  and  oxen.^^ 
River  navigation  is  almost  unknown.  There  is 
scarcely  a  canoe  from  the  Cape  to  Lake  Ngame.^^ 
Of  course,  since  the  intrusion  of  the  white  man  into 
this  region,  many  vehicles  have  come  into  use  and 
thousands  of  miles  of  railway. 

The  division  of  labor  is  well  marked.  The  women 
generally  do  the  field  work,  but  in  some  cases  the 
men  assist.^^  Women  make  the  pottery,  tan  skins, 
spin  and  weave,  make  clothes,  cook,  and  sometimes 
tend  the  cattle.^^  The  men  as  a  rule  look  after  the 
cattle,  do  the  milking,  the  smith-work,  carving,  etc. 
The  Zulu  have  a  division  of  labor  into  the  armourer, 
brazier,  tanner,  shoemaker,  pipe-maker,  etc.-^ 

Among  the  Kafirs  uncultivated  land  is  held  in 
common,  but  is  assigned  annually  by  the  chief  to  his 
headmen.  Cattle  are  not  held  in  common.^^  Each 
freeman  has  his  individual  herds,  and  often  in 

21  Goodrich,  p.  211;  Chapman,  I,  p.  172;  Moffat,  pp.  471,  494; 
Conder,  p.  90;  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography-  of  South  Africa," 
I,  p.  156. 

22  Tlieal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  83. 

23  Semple,  p.  298. 
24Ratzel,  II,  p.  507. 
25lhid.,  p.  415. 

26  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  39. 

27  Theal,  ^'History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  82. 


THE  SOUTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  239 


the  same  family  property  is  held  in  severalty. 
Among'  the  Herero  a  child  acquires  from  his  father, 
uncle,  or  cousin  his  individual  cattle,  and  does  not 
live  on  the  common  property  of  the  family.^^  The 
chief  has  his  oxen  and  the  people  theirs.^^  Every 
man  owns  the  land  he  cultivates.^^ 

The  industrial  life  of  the  natives  of  this  zone  has 
been  revolutionized  in  many  districts  by  the  intru- 
sion of  the  white  man.  In  the  sphere  of  the  white 
man^s  activities,  mining  predominates  over  stock- 
raising  or  farming.  The  labor  problem  as  it  affects 
the  natives  is  to  be  discussed  in  another  volume  of 
this  series. 

Family  Life. — Wives  are  purchased  in  terms  of 
cattle  and  their  sale  is  a  source  of  wealth  to  their 
parents.^ ^  The  transaction  is  not  regarded  as  a  pur- 
chase by  the' native  but  as  a  dowry  or  pledge  of  good 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  husband.^-  If  the  wife 
give  birth  to  no  children  the  husband  may  demand  a 
return  of  the  cattle.  Young  girls  go  through  a  cere- 
mony of  initiation  at  puberty  which  announces  that 
they  are  ready  to  be  applied  for  in  marriage.^^  The 
arrangement  of  marriages  is  usually  made  by  par- 
ents but  matches  from  mutual  love  are  not  un- 
common.^"^    In  recent  years  with  the  increase  of 

28Ratzel,  II,  p.  41G. 

29  Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  10. 

solhid.,  p.  17;  Macdonald,  p.  276. 

31  Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  9. 

32  Macdonald,  p.  270. 

33Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  116. 
34  Macdonald,  p.  270. 

35Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  117. 


240  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


agriculture  women  have  become  more  important  eco- 
nomic factors  and  consequently  more  and  more  ex- 
pensive. In  Zululand  young  boys  have  to  bestir 
themselves  by  going  on  long  journeys  to  the  coast, 
seeking  employment  of  the  white  man,  in  order  to 
earn  the  wherewith  to  buy  a  wife.^^ 

Polygamy  is  common  and  also  concubinage.  Men 
of  importance  sometimes  have  an  hundred  wives. 
Concubines  are  obtained  by  military  conquests.^' 
The  introduction  of  the  plow  has  tended  to  diminish 
the  extent  of  polygamy  by  enabling  one  woman  to 
support  the  family .^^  The  Kafirs  marr^^  within  the 
tribe  but  not  within  the  clan  or  circle  of  blood  kin.^^ 
Virginity  is  prized  but  not  much  in  fashion  before 
marriage,  and  married  women  even  are  very  un- 
chaste. On  days  of  public  celebrations  sexual  license 
is  shocking.  Illegitimacy  among  the  Zulu  is  rare  on 
account  of  the  abortion  produced  by  the  medicine 
man.^^ 

The  huts  of  the  people  are  made  of  brush,  sticks 
and  mats,  and  are  mostly  conical  in  form.  The 
Kafir,  like  a  true  nomad,  says  Ratzel,  first  puts  up 
the  cattle  pen,  isibaya,  by  surrounding  a  circular 
space  with  a  fence  and  hedge,  or,  in  districts  where 
wood  is  scarce,  with  a  wall  of  stones  or  turf.  The 
huts,  one  apiece  for  the  husband,  for  each  of  his 

36  Cunninghain,  p.  168. 

37  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  443,  544. 

38  Conder,  p.  86. 

39Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  12;  Macdonald,  p.  270. 
^oMacdonald,  p.  270;  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South 
Africa,"  I,  p.  123. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  241 


wives  and  for  each  adult  member  of  the  family,  are 
erected  in  a  semi-circle  around  the  cattle  pen.  The 
man  gets  some  two  hundred  pointed  laths  twelve 
feet  long  and  sticks  them  in  a  circle  in  the  ground. 
The  woman  binds  them  together  at  the  top  with  liana 
fibers,  fastens  grass  or  reeds  over  them,  and  spreads 
the  space  within  with  a  mixture  of  earth  and  cow- 
dung.  Newly  built  huts  look  like  haycocks." 
Among  the  northern  Kafirs  the  round  hive-shaped 
hut  gives  way  to  the  quadrangular.  Generally 
round  huts  with  cone-shaped  roof  predominate  in 
the  east  and  beehive  huts  in  the  west.^^  In  some  lo- 
calities the  hut  is  built  upon  poles,  seven  feet  or  more 
from  the  ground,  or  in  trees,  to  escape  the  attack  of 
lions.^^ 

The  burden  of  supporting  the  family  does  not  rest 
so  much  upon  the  women  as  in  the  zones  near  the 
equator.  The  men  do  a  liberal  share  of  the  work, 
especially  in  tending  the  cattle. 

Family  ties  are  stronger  in  this  zone  than  among 
the  agricultural  people  of  the  north.  The  father, 
however,  is  master  of  the  family,  and  the  position 
of  the  wife  is  not  elevated.  The  wives  of  kings 
shuffle  on  their  knees  in  the  presence  of  their  lord.'** 
The  Zulu  is  fond  of  his  wives,* ^  and  parents  are 
wonderfully  kind  to  their  young  children.*^    It  is 

41 II,  p.  431. 

42  Ankermann,  p.  56. 

43  Moffat,  pp.  519,  520. 
44Reclus,  IV,  p.  175. 
45Macdonald,  p.  218. 

46Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  95;  Weiss,  p.  113. 


242 


THE  NEGEO  EACES 


not  uncommon  to  see  a  mother  embrace  her  sons.^*^ 
The  father  also  often  shows  a  deep  affection  for  his 
sons.  Moffat  instances  the  case  of  a  man  who 
walked  two  hundred  miles  and  offered  all  of  his 
beads  and  ornaments  to  redeem  his  two  sons  who  had 
been  stolen  by  the  Matebele.*^  Twins,  however,  are 
abhorred  and  put  to  death.^^  Infanticide  is  a  na- 
tional institution  among  the  Zulu/'^  The  Bechuana 
put  to  death  albinos,  the  deaf  and  blind.^^  Among 
some  of  the  debased  tribes  it  is  not  uncommon  for 
parents  to  sell  their  children.^^  ^Vhen  boys  cut  their 
second  teeth  they  cease  to  sit  with  the  other  sex. 
They  must  live  in  a  separate  hut  to  themselves  till 
married.^^  The  aged  parents  are  respected  and 
cared  for ;  even  grandparents  are  respected.^*  Kidd 
thinks  that  the  constant  relations  of  the  people  with 
the  spirits  of  their  ancestors  tend  to  strengthen  fam- 
ily ties.^^  A  Kafir  married  woman  must  cut  off  all 
communication  with  her  husband's  kin;  she  must  not 
pronounce  their  names.^^ 

Descent  is  generally  in  the  male  line.  The  eldest 
son  inherits  the  cattle  and  his  father's  wives.^^ 

47  Moffat,  p.  547. 

48  Page  547. 

49  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  45  j  Bent,  p.  316. 
BoRatzel,  II,  p.  435. 

51  Reclus,  IV,  p.  158. 

52  Moffat,  p.  390. 

53  Webster,  p.  12 ;  Kidd,  ''Savage  Childhood,"  p.  84. 

54  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  pp.  36,  39,  98,  145. 

55  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  28. 

56  Avebury,  p.  14. 

57  Bent,  p.  315;  Fritsch,  p.  135;  Macdonald,  pp.  277,  278. 


CHAPTEE  XX 


BANTUS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  (cOfltinued) 

Political  Life. — In  making  tlie  transition  from  the 
narrow  plateau  of  East  Africa  to  the  south,  the  pas- 
toral people  have  to  pass  through  regions  not  suit- 
able for  grazing,  and  at  the  same  time  infested  with 
the  tsetse  fly.  Once  across  these  regions  the  pasture 
lands  become  more  and  more  inviting.  In  order  to 
occupy  these  favored  areas,  in  the  first  instance,  it 
was  necessary  for  the  invaders  to  mass  themselves 
together.  The  cattle  had  to  be  kept  in  an  enclosure 
in  the  center  protected  by  a  circle  of  huts.  Each 
clan  was  divided  into  two  groups,  one  of  which  com- 
prised the  army  made  up  of  the  young  unmarried 
men.  The  pastoral  resources  did  not  permit  of 
very  large  communities,  the  Kafir  villages  varying 
in  size  from  500  to  2,000  persons.  In  a  few  favored 
sections  were  villages  of  several  thousand  each. 
Moffat  says,  that  *  ^  riding  into  the  center  of  the  large 
fold,  which  was  capable  of  holding  ten  thousand 
head  of  cattle,  we  were  rather  taken  by  surprise  to 
find  it  lined  by  800  warriors,  besides  200  which  were 
concealed  in  each  side  of  the  entrance  as  if  in  am- 
bush/' ^    The  Bechuana,  who  combine  considerable 

iPage  530. 

243 


244  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


agriculture  with  their  pastoral  life,  contrast  with  the 
Zulu  in  forming  larger  groups.  Their  towns  are 
often  fortified  by  stone  walls,  and  their  cattle  are 
kept  in  an  outlying  post.^ 

Once  organized  for  defense,  the  temptation  to  ag- 
gression becomes  irresistible,  in  view  of  the  pros- 
pect of  booty  from  weaker  tribes.  Among  the  Zulu, 
marriages  were  not  permitted  to  the  military  groups 
and  no  children  allowed  in  them.  Unlimited  con- 
cubinage, however,  was  allowed,  and  the  offspring 
of  the  fighting  group  were  killed.  Hence  aggres- 
sion became  necessary  to  prevent  a  decrease  in  the 
supply  of  women.^ 

The  fact  of  common  race,  language,  and  an  open 
country  would  seem  to  favor  large  federations,  but 
such  is  the  geography  of  South  Africa  that  pasture 
fields  are  intervened  by  forests,  waste  lands  and 
mountains,  and  therefore  do  not,  as  the  steppe  lands 
of  the  Sudan,  favor  a  great  empire  like  that  among 
the  Fellatahs.  Indeed,  the  process  of  federation 
never  advanced  as  far  as  the  geographical  condi- 
tions or  fighting  strength  of  the  people  seemed  to 
warrant.  The  few  tribes  that  confederated  lacked 
cohesion,  on  account  first,  of  the  despotic  form  of 
government  which  excited  rebellion  and,  second,  the 
open  nature  of  the  country  which  facilitated  the 
escape  of  disaffected  elements  of  the  population. 
If  expansion  had  been  a  matter  only  of  military 
leadership  there  would  have  been  mighty  empires 
in  South  Africa;  for  it  has  produced  many  men  of 

2  Conder,  pp.  87,  88.  3  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  442,  443. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  245 


military  genius.  The  fighting  ability  of  the  rank 
and  file  would  also  have  favored  the  success  of  em- 
pire building;  for  the  whole  male  population  was 
trained  from  infancy  in  the  art  of  war.  But,  in 
fact,  the  different  communities  were  so  loosely 
bound  together  that  they  could  scarcely  understand 
each  other's  dialect.* 

The  conquering  tribes  always  dispossessed  the 
conquered  of  their  cattle,  and  either  reduced  them 
to  a  servile  class  of  peasants,  or  killed  all  of  them 
except  the  boys  and  girls.  The  chief,  in  peace,  as 
in  war,  held  his  subjects  together  by  tyranny.^  The 
process  of  absorption  by  conquest  brought  together 
an  alien  mixture  of  men  and  women  who  had  little 
common  sjTnpathy  as  a  basis  for  unity.  Of  Mosili- 
katsi's  government,  Motfat  says,  that  it  was  **the 
very  essence  of  despotism.  His  word  was  law  and  he 
had  only  to  lift  his  finger,  or  give  a  frown,  and  his 
greatest  nobles  trembled  in  his  presence.  No  one 
appeared  to  have  a  judgment  of  his  own,  none  dared 
to  negative  an  opinion  breathed  by  his  sovereign.''  ^ 
Among  some  of  the  more  agricultural  and  less  mili- 
tary tribes,  government  took  on  a  milder  form.^ 
For  example,  the  Bechuana  (the  name  means  equals) 
were  ruled  by  a  council  of  elders,^  but  even  their 
government  was  based  upon  a  rigid  caste  system  in 

4Theal,  *'History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  76. 
sMaedonald,  p.  290. 
6  Page  543. 
TMacdonald,  p.  288. 

8  LiWngstone,  "Missionary  Travels  and  Researches,"  pp.  200,  201; 
Theal,  ''History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa/*  I,  p.  77. 


246  THE  NEGKO  EACES 


whicli  the  ricli  class  alone  possessed  rights.^  Tlie 
Bechuana  had  not  until  recently  emerged  from  the 
pure  tribal  state.  They  were  divided  into  the  croco- 
Kiile,  fish,  monkey,  buffalo,  lion  and  other  tribes. 
They  sang  about  their  totem  at  feasts,  and  the  croco- 
dile tribe  marked  the  ears  of  their  cattle  with  an  in- 
cision which  resembled  the  open  jaws  of  that  crea- 
ture. The  modern  coat-of-arms  of  civilized  people 
probably  had  its  origin  in  some  such  markings. 

In  the  Kafir  tribes  the  people  are  the  property  of 
the  rulers.  It  used  to  be  that  when  a  man  died  his 
nearest  relative  was  required  to  report  the  circum- 
stance to  the  head  of  the  clan,  and  to  take  a  present 
of  some  kind  with  him  as  consolation  for  the  loss 
sustained.^^  At  the  present  time  injuries  or  wrongs 
are  not  left  to  private  revenge.^^  An  offense  against 
any  one  is  atoned  for  by  a  fine  paid  to  the  chief.^^ 
Children  are  responsible  to  the  father,  he  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  headman,  who  in  turn  is  responsible 
to  the  petty  chief;  while  the  petty  chiefs  are  re- 
sponsible to  the  king. ' '  Eulership  among  the 
Kafirs  is  generally  hereditary,  except  among  the  Zu- 
lus where  the  leader  is  chosen  or  self-appointed.^* 

About  1853  the  Zulus  were  divided  into  regiments 
of  900  men.    They  embraced  78  tribes,  each  averag- 

oConder,  p.  89. 

10  Lang,  "Myth,  Ritual  and  Religion,"  p.  71. 

iiTheal,  "History  and  Etlinography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  79. 

12  Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  20. 

13  Kidd,  Ibid.,  p.  9. 

14  Kidd,  Ibid.,  p.  4. 
loMacdonald,  p.  289. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  247 


ing  about  367  huts  and  1,500  souls. Each  soldier 
wore  an  ox-hide  shield,  covering  his  whole  body,  and 
carried  a  club  and  short  spear,  his  brow  being 
adorned  with  a  profusion  of  feathers.^^  In  times  of 
war  the  women  and  prisoners  followed  the  army, 
driving  the  cattle,  cooking,  bringing  water,  and 
carrying  mats.^^ 

In  the  long-continued  wars  of  South  Africa  each 
tribe  deprived  of  cattle  was  obliged  either  to  perish 
or  rob  others,  and  hence  the  whole  region  was  set 
in  motion  like  a  storm-tossed  sea.^^  The  Zambesi 
and  Kubango  basins,  which  might  support  a  popula- 
tion of  200,000,000,  were  swept  bare  by  devastating 
wars.^^  Even  the  countries  north  of  the  Zambesi, 
and  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Xyassa,  perished  eco- 
nomically and  politically  from  the  Zulu  invasions.^ ^ 
The  weaker  tribes  took  refuge  in  localities  difiQcult 
of  access  and  enclosed  by  palisades. One  tribe, 
the  Ba  Silika,  escaped  destruction  by  occupying  a 
bluff,  near  the  Limpopo,  protected  by  a  zone  of 
tsetse  fly.  Their  herds  were  kept  in  the  upland  val- 
leys. Other  tribes  deprived  of  their  cattle  took  to  the 
woods  to  live  by  hunting,  or  to  die  of  hunger.^^ 

The  inception  of  the  Zulu  invasion  into  the  north 
is  related  by  Theal  as  follows:  About  the  year 
1783,  or  perhaps  a  little  later,  one  of  the  wives  of 
the  chief  of  a  small  tribe,  living  on  the  banks  of  the 

16  Ratzel,  II,  p.  336.  20  Ratzel,  II,  p.  236. 

17  Moffat,  p.  553.  21  Hid.,  II,  p.  506. 

18  Ratzel,  II,  p.  443.  22  Hid.,  p.  509. 
18  Moffat,  p.  372.  23  Moffat,  p.  415. 


248  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


river  Umvolosi,  gave  birth  to  a  son,  wlio  was  named 
Tshaka  (more  often  written  Cliaka).  Before  lie  was 
fully  grown  the  boy  excited  the  jealousy  of  his 
father,  and  was  obliged  to  flee  for  his  life.  He  took 
refuge  with  Dingiswayo,  head  of  a  powerful  tribe, 
who  in  his  early  years  had  gone  through  many 
strange  adventures,  and  had  by  some  means  come 
to  hear  of  the  European  military  system.  When 
Tshaka  fled  to  him,  Dingiswayo  was  carrying  on  a 
war  with  his  neighbors,  and  had  his  followers  reg- 
ularly drilled  and  formed  into  regiments.  The 
young  refugee  became  a  soldier  in  one  of  these  regi- 
ments, and,  by  his  bravery  and  address,  rapidly  rose 
to  a  high  position.  Time  passed  on,  Dingiswayo 
died,  and  the  army  raised  Tshaka,  then  its  favorite 
general,  to  supreme  command.  This  was  the  origin 
of  the  terrible  Zulu  power. 

Tshaka  was  a  man  of  great  bodily  strength  and 
of  unusual  vigor  of  mind,  but  he  was  utterly  merci- 
less. He  set  himself  the  task  not  merely  of  con- 
quering but  of  exterminating  the  tribes  as  far  as  he 
could  reach.  With  this  object  he  greatly  improved 
the  discipline  of  the  army,  and  substituted  for  the 
light  assegai  a  short-handled,  long-bladed  spear, 
formed  either  to  cut  or  stab.  With  this  weapon  in 
his  hand,  the  highly  trained  Zulu  soldier,  proud  of 
his  fame  and  his  ornaments,  and  knowing  that  death 
was  the  penalty  of  cowardice  or  disobedience,  was 
really  invincible. 

Tribe  after  tribe  passed  out  of  sight  under  the 
Zulu  spear,  none  of  the  members  remaining  but  a 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  249 


few  of  the  handsomest  girls  and  some  boys  reserved 
to  carry  burdens.  These  boys,  with  only  the  choice 
before  them  of  abject  slavery  or  becoming  soldiers, 
always  begged  to  be  allowed  to  enter  the  army,  and 
were  soon  known  as  the  fiercest  of  the  warriors. 

**The  territory  that  is  now  the  colony  of  Natal 
was  densely  peopled  before  the  time  of  Tshaka. 
But  soon  after  the  commencement  of  his  career, 
various  tribes  that  were  trying  to  escape  from  his 
armies  fell  upon  the  inhabitants  of  that  fair  land, 
and  drove  before  them  those  whom  they  did  not 
destroy.  As  far  as  the  Umzimvubu  River  the  whole 
population  was  in  motion,  slaughtering  and  being 
slaughtered.'' 

About  this  time  one  of  Chaka's  captains,  Sebi- 
tuane,  became  fired  with  ambition  to  found  an  em- 
pire of  his  own.  He  escaped  from  Chaka  and  estab- 
lished the  kingdom  of  the  Makololo.^^ 

In  1827,  not  long  after  Sebituane  began  his  rebel- 
lion, another  of  Chaka 's  captains,  Mosilikatsi, 
dreaming  also  of  empire,  escaped,  marched  north- 
ward to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Makololo,  and 
there  in  1834  established  the  kingdom  of  the  Mate- 
bele.-^  ^  *  The  country  over  which  he  marched, ' '  says 
Theal,  **was  covered  with  skeletons,  and  literally  no 
human  beings  were  left  in  it,  for  his  object  was  to 
place  a  desert  between  Tshaka  and  himself.  When 
he  considered  himself  at  a  safe  distance  from  his  old 
home,  he  halted,  erected  military  kraals,  after  the 


24  Page  164. 

25  RicMer,  p.  15. 


26  Richter,  p.  17. 


250  THE  NEGRO  EACES 


Zulu  pattern,  and  from  tliem  as  a  center  his  regi- 
ments traversed  the  land  north,  south  and  west  in 
search  of  spoil.  "-^  .  .  .  While  the  Matebele  were 
engaged  in  their  career  of  destruction,  other  bands 
were  similarly  employed  farther  north,  so  that  by 
1828  there  was  not  a  single  Bechuana  tribe  left 
intact  between  the  Magalisberg  and  the  Limpopo. ' ' 

In  1829  the  missionary  Moffat  visited  Mosilikatsi, 
whose  kraal  was  then  100  miles  east  of  the  Marikwa. 
*'When  the  Matebele  conquered  a  town,"  says  Mof- 
fat, *^the  terrified  inhabitants  were  driven  in  a  mass 
to  the  outskirts  where  the  parents  and  all  the  mar- 
ried women  were  slaughtered  on  the  spot.  Such  as 
have  dared  to  be  brave  in  defense  of  their  town,  their 
wives  and  children,  are  reserved  for  a  still  more  ter- 
rible death.  Dry  grass,  saturated  with  fat,  is  tied 
around  their  naked  bodies  and  then  set  on  fire. 
The  youths  and  girls  are  loaded  on  beasts  of  burden 
with  the  spoils  of  the  town.  If  the  town  be  in  an 
isolated  position  the  helpless  infants  are  left  to 
perish  either  with  hunger  or  to  be  devoured  by 
beasts  of  prey. ' ' 

The  country  within  the  sweep  of  the  Matebele  was 
rapidly  depopulated.^^  **0n  the  side  of  the  hills 
and  Kashan  mountains,''  says  Moffat,  **were  towns 
in  ruins  where  thousands  once  made  the  country  alive 
amidst  fruit  vales,  now  covered  with  luxuriant  grass, 
and  inhabited  by  game.  The  extirpating  invasions 
of  the  Mantatees  and  Matebele  had  left  to  beasts  of 


2TPa^  169. 
28  Page  169. 


2»Pag«  555. 
80  Bent,  p.  269. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  251 


prey  the  undisputed  right  of  these  lovely  woodland 
glens. ' '  ^  ^  The  havoc  wrought  by  Chaka  the  Terrible 
was  nothing  comparable  to  that  of  Mosilikatsi.^^ 

The  story  of  the  struggle  of  the  Boers  and  Eng- 
lish with  the  Matebele  and  other  Kafir  tribes  is  a 
long  and  tragic  one.  It  may  be  briefly  summarized 
as  follows :  In  1836  a  band  of  invading  Boers,  under 
Potgieter  and  Maritz,  surprised  one  of  Mosilikatsi's 
camps  near  the  present  Wiuberg  (Vet  River). 
After  a  hot  fight  the  Matebele  retreated  leaving  400 
men  dead  on  the  field.  The  Boers  burnt  the  kraal 
and  carried  off  7,000  head  of  cattle.^^ 

A  short  time  afterwards,  a  second  attack  upon 
the  Matebele  was  made  by  the  Boers  under  Potgie- 
ter and  Pieter  Uys.  Mosilikatsi  was  found  on  the 
Marikwa,  fifty  miles  north  of  Mosega,  and  he  had 
about  12,000  warriors.  **But  the  advantage  of  the 
farmers  in  their  guns  and  horses  was  so  great  that 
the  hundred  and  thirty-five  did  not  hesitate  to  at- 
tack a  force  which  was  to  theirs  as  ninety  to  one.'' 
After  a  nine  days'  onslaught  by  Mosilikatsi  he  was 
so  badly  crippled  in  men  that  he  gave  up  the  contest 
and  fled  to  the  north,  and,  in  the  country  beyond  the 
Limpopo,  connnenced  to  destroy  the  southern  Bech- 
uana.  The  Boers  contented  themselves  by  seiz- 
ing six  or  seven  thousand  head  of  cattle.^^ 

**In  September,  1828,  Tshaka  was  murdered  by 
two  of  his  brothers,  one  of  whom — Dingan  by  name 

31  Page  518.  Ibid.,  p.  202. 

32  Ibid.,  p.  526.  55  Hid.,  p.  203. 
ssTheal,  "South  Africa,"  p.  200. 


252  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


— succeeded  as  cliief  of  the  Zulus.  The  new  ruler 
was  equally  as  cruel  but  not  so  able  as  his  predeces- 
gQj,  M36  wiien  the  white  colonists  began  to  move 
towards  Natal,  their  leader,  Pieter  Eetief,  negoti- 
ated with  the  Zulu  chief,  Dingan,  for  permission 
to  enter.  When  all  of  the  terms  and  conditions 
seemed  to  be  agreed  upon,  Dingan  caused  Eetief  and 
his  escort,  now  in  Dingan 's  camp,  to  be  seized  and 
executed.  A  few  hours  later  about  10,000  Zulus  set 
out  and,  after  eleven  days'  march,  fell  upon  the  most 
advanced  immigrant  encampment,  near  the  present 
village  of  Weenen.  Forty-one  white  men,  fifty- 
six  white  women  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
white  children,  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  col- 
ored servants  perished  in  the  dreadful  massacre. 
Needless  to  say,  the  wagons  and  their  contents  were 
utterly  destroyed.'' A  camp  of  immigrants  far- 
ther on  had  barely  time  to  draw  their  wagons  around 
them  when  the  Zulus  appeared.  After  attacking  the 
laager  without  success,  and  losing  a  great  number  of 
men,  the  Zulus  retired  and  drove  away  a  large  herd 
of  cattle.^^ 

The  colonists  were  now  in  a  high  fever  of  revenge. 
Three  hundred  and  forty-seven  of  them  assembled 
and  rode  directly  towards  the  Zulu  capital  under 
Potgieter  and  Uys.  After  a  five  days'  march  they 
came  in  sight  of  a  division  of  the  Zulu  army.  A 
fight  ensued.  The  Zulus,  feigning  retreat,  drew  the 
invaders  into  a  skillfully  planned  ambuscade.  In 
a  gorge  between  two  ranges  of  hills  the  immigrants 

36  Ibid.,  p.  167.  37  ihid.,  p.  208.  38  Ibid.,  p.  209. 


THE  SOUTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  253 


were  surrounded  and  attacked.  Only  the  most 
desperate  fighting  enabled  the  immigrants  to  cut 
their  way  through  the  rear  and  escape,  leaving  be- 
hind them  a  large  number  of  horses,  all  of  the  bag- 
gage and  ammunition,  and  ten  of  their  men  slain,  of 
whom  one  was  their  commandant  Uys. 

few  days  later  seventeen  Englishmen  left  Port 
Natal  with  about  fifteen  hundred  blacks,  of  whom 
between  three  and  four  hundred  were  armed  with 
muskets.  A  few  miles  south  of  the  Tugela  they 
came  upon  a  Zulu  regiment  which  pretended  to  take 
flight,  leaving  food  cooking  on  fires  and  even  throw- 
ing away  a  number  of  shields  and  assegais.  The 
Natal  army  pursued  with  all  haste,  crossed  the 
Tugela,  took  possession  of  a  kraal  on  the  northern 
bank,  and  then  found  it  had  been  drawn  between 
the  horns  of  a  Zulu  army  fully  seven  thousand 
strong."  The  battle  was  fought  April  17,  1838,  one 
of  the  most  desperate  in  the  history  of  South  Africa. 
Eepeated  rushes  of  the  Zulus  finally  cut  the  Natal 
army  in  two,  and  put  it  to  rout.  The  retreat  across 
the  river  was  intercepted  by  a  Zulu  regiment. 

Thirteen  English  lay  dead  on  the  field  of  battle, 
with  a  thousand  Natal  blacks,  and  probably  three 
times  that  number  of  Zulus. 

In  November,  1838,  Andrew  Pretorius  arrived 
in  Natal  and  was  elected  commander-in-general. 
He  at  once  organized  a  force  of  460  men,  and  on  De- 
cember 16  routed  Dingan's  army,  but  could  not  then 
follow  with  his  cavalry  into  the  districts  where 

S9Jhid.,  p.  213. 


254  THE  NEGBO  EACES 


Dingan  liad  retired.  In  January,  1840,  Pretorius 
again  set  out  to  find  Dingan army.  Through  the 
treachery  and  assistance  of  a  large  force  of  Zulu 
deserters  he  located  the  army  and  defeated  it. 
Dingan  with  a  remnant  of  his  force  fled  northward 
to  the  border  of  the  Swazi  country  where  he  was 
soon  afterwards  assassinated.  Thereafter,  the  ter- 
ror which  the  Zulu  name  had  inspired  in  South 
Africa  was  a  thing  of  the  past.^^ 

•  •  •  •  •  .k  • 

'Many  of  the  Bechuana  tribes  lived  in  an  ill-wa- 
tered steppe  which  afforded  little  inducement  to  agri- 
culture and  supported  a  sparse  population.  They 
were  politically  weak  and  not  able  to  contend  suc- 
cessfully against  the  Zulu,  Matebele  and  Makololo. 
Kaiding  in  this  region,  however,  on  account  of  the 
distance  between  villages  and  watering  places, 
meant  long  marches  and  a  precarious  existence. 
The  invaders  were  hardly  paid  for  their  efforts. 
Moffat  observed,  that  *^With  all  their  conquests, 
and  the  many  thousands  of  cattle  which  they  must 
have  captured,  they  were  dying  of  hunger.  Their 
march  for  hundreds  of  miles  might  have  been  traced 
by  human  bones." 

The  Basuto  occupied  the  Drakensberg  mountains 
and  were  little  affected  by  the  Zulu  movement. 
This  region,  the  Switzerland  of  South  Africa,  is  a 
plateau  about  5,000  feet  above  sea,  rising  like  a  gi- 


^olUd.y  p.  217. 


41  Page  369. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  255 


gantic  billow  in  successive  waves  of  mountains  until 
the  summit  of  the  Drakensberg  is  reached,  the  high- 
est peak  of  which  is  over  11,000  feet.^^ 

It  was  not  until  1867  that  Basutoland  was  con- 
quered. Moshesh,  then  the  leader  of  the  native 
army,  after  a  brilliant  strategic  defense,  was  at  last 
overcome  by  the  Boers,  and  his  men  were  scattered 
among  the  hills.  By  the  interference  of  Sir  Wode- 
house  the  Basuto  were  proclaimed  British  subjects, 
and  in  1871  their  territory  was  annexed  to  Cape 
Colony.42 

All  of  the  territory  formerly  held  by  the  Bantus 
of  the  cattle  zone,  except  that  of  German  West 
Africa  and  Portuguese  East  Africa,  now  belongs  to 
the  Union  of  South  Africa. 

Religious  Life. — In  this  prairie  region  nature  is 
not  manifested  in  that  violent  form  which  overcomes 
the  people  with  terror.  Subsistence  arises  here,  not 
from  the  bounty  of  nature,  but  so  palpably  from 
labor  and  foresight  that  the  people  are  not  greatly 
concerned  with  the  play  of  external  forces.  Never- 
theless, the  people  are  surrounded  by  enough  that  is 
mysterious  to  fill  their  minds  with  superstition. 
Spirit  belief  is  as  strong  here  as  elsewhere  in  Africa, 
but  it  is  less  fantastic  and  fear-inspiring.  The  fun- 
damental conception  of  the  people  is  that  the  spirits 
of  men  live  after  them.  These  departed  spirits  get 
hungry  and  thirsty;  they  are  subject  to  moods  like 
the  living,  and  they  interfere  in  a  vexatious  way  with 

*2  Theal,  "South  Africa,"  p.  263.    « Ihid.,  pp.  321-330. 


256  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


the  course  of  human  events.^*  This  conception  leads 
naturally  to  ancestor  worship.  ^*The  clan  worships 
the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  of  the  chiefs,  and  the 
tribe  worships  the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  of  the 
paramount  chief. Sometimes  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  visit  their  friends  and  descendants  in  the  form 
of  animals,  and  hence  a  sort  of  animal  worship.^^ 
The  Ova-Herero  worship  certain  trees  supposed  to 
be  their  ancestors.^"^  Generally  speaking,  the  peo- 
ple of  this  zone  do  not  pay  much  attention  to  ani- 
mals in  their  religious  thought,  and  do  not  believe 
in  reincarnation  and  transmigration  of  souls  to  the 
same  extent  as  the  equatorial  Negroes. 

A  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  Kafir  religion 
is  that  it  is  concerned  with  the  spirits  of  human 
beings  rather  than  with  the  spirits  of  nature ;  and^ 
in  consequence  of  this,  the  idea  of  beneficence  in 
spirits  is  more  observable  than  among  the  natives  of 
the  manioc  and  banana  zones.  Eeligious  rites  are 
entered  into  with  joy,  not  with  terror.  The  gods 
are  invited  to  be  present  and  partake  of  the  repast. 
This  is  but  a  step  to  the  festal  thanksgiving  and 
acknowledgment  of  benefits.^ ^ 

In  addition  to  the  ancestral  spirits,  there  are  oth- 
ers personifying  nature.    A  god  of  lightning  is 

44Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  28  j  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnogra- 
phy of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  84. 
45Macdonald,  p.  286. 

46  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  90. 
47Ratzel,  II,  p.  481. 
48Brinton,  p.  181. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  257 


common  among  the  Zulu  and  Becliuana.*^  Sky  gods 
are  found  everywhere,  and  probably  are  connected  in 
their  origin  with  the  fire  cult  which  is  widespread  in 
South  Africa.^^  **The  sun  is  supposed  to  travel  un- 
der the  earth  after  it  sets.  It  is  then  warmed  up 
— ^boiled  in  a  pot  of  fat — and  sent  up  at  dawn  next 
day/'^^  The  Zulu  conceives  of  thunder,  clouds  and 
lightning  as  actual  creatures  capable  of  being  herded 
like  cattle.  A  cloud  herd  is  like  a  cow  herd,  except 
that  only  a  sorcerer  can  manipulate  the  former.^ ^ 
Some  tribes  believe  in  a  supreme  being  who  was  once 
a  man. 

The  gods  or  spirits,  good  and  bad,  are  inextri- 
cably entangled  in  the  social  life  of  the  people. 
Kafir  children  are  washed  in  a  medicine  mixed  with 
tiie  dirt  scraped  from  the  father's  body,  in  order  to 
impart  the  spirit  of  the  grandfather  or  clan.^^ 
Sneezing  is  caused  by  the  ancestral  spirit  and  it  is  a 
sign  that  the  spirit  is  taking  care  of  the  child. 
Bleeding  at  the  nose  is  also  the  work  of  the  ancestral 
spirit  and  indicates  the  purging  of  the  child  of  bad 
blood.^^  To  catch  two  mice  in  one  trap  causes  a 
man's  wife  to  have  twins.^^    Food  of  certain  kinds 

49  Conder,  p.  82 ;  Maedonald,  p.  295. 

soBrinton,  p.  142;  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South 
Africa,"  I,  p.  94;  Frobenius,  "Die  Weltanschauung  der  Naturvolker," 
Beitrage  zur  Volks-und  Volkerkunde,  VI,  pp.  287-289. 

51  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  147. 

62  Lang,  "Myth,  Ritual  and  Religion,"  p.  110. 

63  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  12. 

64  Kidd,  Ihid.,  p.  106. 
^tilhid.,  p.  48. 


258  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


must  not  be  eaten  lest  tlie  ire  of  an  evil  spirit  be 
awakened.^^  Milk  must  not  be  brought  in  contact 
with  iron  lest  evil  comes  to  tbe  cattle.  Certain 
plants  are  supposed  to  be  lucky  and  others  unlucky. 
The  Makololo  will  not  plant  maize  for  fear  of  im- 
mediate death,  but  whoever  plants  coffee  will  be  ever 
happy.^^  A  vessel  that  breaks  has  lost  its  spirit,  or 
is  bewitched.  A  Bechuana  smith  once  tried  to  ham- 
mer a  cast-iron  pot  that  had  been  stolen.  As  he 
struck  it  upon  the  anvil  it  flew  to  pieces.  He  did 
not  doubt  that  it  was  bewitched.^^  The  Namaqua 
protect  themselves  from  lightning  by  shooting  pois- 
oned arrows  at  it.^^  The  Bechuana  used  to  eat  the 
flesh  of  an  enemy  to  add  his  courage  to  their  own.^*^ 
Human  sacrifices  occur  only  in  rare  cases.  Some- 
times when  an  important  chief  dies  several  of  his 
wives  and  slaves  are  sacrificed  and  also  his  favorite 
dog.^^  On  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Chaka's 
mother,  two  maidens  followed  her  into  the  other 
world.^^  Most  generally  spirits  are  propitiated  and 
made  to  serve  the  living  by  offerings  of  cattle,  sheep, 
goats,  corn,  etc.^^  In  case  of  sickness  a  Zulu  will 
sometimes  offer  an  ox  to  appease  the  offended 
spirit.^*    The  people  always  eat  any  animal  or  fowl 

B6  Reclus,  IV,  p.  159. 

57  Ratzel,  II,  p.  371. 

58  Moffat,  p.  290. 
^9  Ibid.,  p.  259. 

60  Reclus,  IV,  p.  160. 

61  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  88. 

62  Ratzel,  II,  p.  374. 
e^Ibid.,  II,  p.  412. 
64  Macdonald,  p.  267. 


THE  SOUTHEEN  CATTLE  ZONE  259 


used  as  a  sacrifice.^^  Idols  are  not  found  in  South 
Africa.^^ 

Diseases  are  not  always  due  to  evil  spirits.  For 
instance,  death  from  starvation  is  not  attributed  to 
any  occult  source.^^  But  spirits  do  cause  much  sick- 
ness and  many  death,s.  A  spirit  that  causes  the 
death  of  one  person,  may,  like  our  microbe,  enter 
into  another  person  and  take  his  life  also.  For- 
merly the  custom  prevailed  among  the  Herero  of  cut- 
ting through  the  spine  of  the  deceased  to  kill  the 
worm  or  spirit,  otjivtira,  which  was  supposed  to  re- 
side there,  and  wliich  after  death  would  become  an 
evil  spectre.^^ 

Magic-men,  sorcerers  or  witch-doctors  are  very 
numerous,  and  their  work  is  highly  specialized.^^ 
There  are  magic-men  who  detect  witches,  protect 
crops  and  people  from  evil,  etc.  Then  there  is  a 
special  class  of  doctors  who  make  rain,  and  keep  off 
lightning  and  thunder.'^^  Finally  there  is  the  medi- 
cine man  proper  devoted  to  curing  sickness.'^ ^  The 
work  of  the  magic-man  is  not  regarded  by  the  Kafir 
as  supernatural,  but  in  the  same  light  as  we  regard 
our  chemist  or  electrician.'^ ^  The  war-doctor  makes 
the  soldiers  brave  and  invincible  by  sprinkling  them 

«5  Ihid.,  p.  106. 

66  Moffat,  pp.  236,  243;  Conder,  p.  83. 

67  Moffat,  p.  437. 
esRatzel,  II,  p.  468. 

«9  Macdonald,  pp.  293,  294. 
ToMacdonald,  p.  295. 
•nihid.,  p.  273. 

72  Kidd,  **Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  21. 


260  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


with  a  concoction  of  roots  and  herbs,  and  smearing 
them  with  portions  of  the  bodies  of  slain  enemiesJ^ 
sorcerer,"  says  Moffat,  **will  pretend  he  cannot 
find  out  the  guilty  person,  or  where  the  malady  of 
another  lies,  till  he  has  an  ox  or  goat  to  manoeuvre 
by  cutting  out  certain  parts.  An  ox  is  usually  re- 
quired of  the  rich.'''^^  The  Herero  doctor  takes 
auguries  from  the  coils  and  glands  in  the  mesentery 
of  a  slaughtered  wether,  like  any  Roman  auspices,*^^ 
or,  as  a  sovereign  remedy,  smears  hyena  dung  on  the 
patient's  mouth  and  forehead To  bring  rain  when 
the  skies  are  unpropitious  is  a  trying  ordeal  for  the 
magic-man,  especially  if  he  have  to  respond  to  a 
call  200  miles  distantJ'^  To  gain  time  he  calls  for 
a  baboon,  or  the  heart  of  a  lion — ^both  scarce  and 
difficult  to  geV^  When  the  matter  can  be  delayed 
no  longer  he  assembles  all  the  people  of  the  town, 
who  pass  in  succession  before  him,  when  each  is 
sprayed  with  drippings  of  a  zebra's  tail  dipped  in 
waterJ^  In  ease  of  failure  sundry  excuses  are  of- 
fered. Sometimes  the  resident  missionary  is 
blamed,  or  the  church  bells.^^  But  the  people  get 
angry  and  take  revenge,  so  that  '*a  rain  doctor  sel- 
dom dies  a  natural  death."  The  Zulu  doctor  is 
a  self-made  man.  He  wanders  in  the  woods,  comes 
back  daubed  with  clay  and  festooned  with  snakes, 
and  claims  to  have  lived  in  a  pool  with  the  rainbow. 


TsMacdonald,  p.  284. 

74  Page  277. 

75  Ratzel,  II,  p.  412. 

76  Ihid.,  p.  480. 

77  Moffat,  p.  309, 


tsiUd.,  p.  318. 
to  Ibid.,  p.  317. 

so  Ihid.,  p.  320;  Conder,  p.  84. 
81  Moffat,  p.  325. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  261 


If  he  can  now  guess  where  things  are  hid  he  is  a 
diviner  by  acclamation.^-  He  sometimes  has  pre- 
sentiments, hears  voices  and  songs,  and  sees  people 
at  a  great  distance,  like  our  modern  clairvoyants 
and  spiritualists.*^^ 

The  Kafirs  have  no  idea  of  reward  or  punishment 
in  the  after-life.^* 

82Gallaway,  p.  179. 
S3lhid.,  pp.  169,  170-2-3. 

«*Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  85. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


BANTUS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  {cOntlUUed) 

Ceremonial  Life. — Ceremony  in  this  zone  is  very 
marked,  but  pertains  to  acts  of  minor  importance, 
and  does  not  seem  to  be  inspired  to  any  great  extent 
by  religion  or  political  terror.  It  seems  rather  to  be 
the  expression  of  an  effort  to  compensate  for  mo- 
notony of  life.  There  are  no  ceremonies  connected 
with  sowing  seeds,  plowing  or  harvesting.^  Most 
of  the  ceremony  seems  to  relate  to  the  sexual  life. 
There  is  a  ceremony  of  initiation  into  manhood,^  and 
a  ceremony  of  blood-brotherhood.^  Among  the 
Bechuana  the  entrance  of  a  youth  upon  maturity  is 
accompanied  by  ceremonies  of  circumcision,  instruc- 
tion and  seclusion  which  last  for  months  and  often 
for  several  years.*  Parleys  in  connection  with  mar- 
riage often  last  two  or  three  months.  * '  The  wedding 
ceremony,"  says  Ratzel,  which  takes  a  similar 
course  among  all  South  Kaffirs,  consists  among  the 
Zulus  of  the  ceremonial  transference  of  the  bride 
to  the  bridegroom's  hut,  escorted  by  the  relations 

1  Macdonald,  p.  282. 

2  Livingstone,  "Travels  and  Researches/*  p.  163. 
B  Ratzel,  II,  p.  380. 

^Ihid.,  II,  p.  370;  Macdonald,  p.  268. 

262 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  263 


and  friends  in  great  numbers."^  The  second  day 
after  marriage,  among  the  Bechuana  the  witch-doc- 
tor scratches  both  bride  and  groom,  and  their  blood 
is  reciprocally  rnbbed  into  their  wounds.^  Women 
in  labor  are  assisted  by  some  wise  old  women  of  the 
kraal.  One  of  them  performs  the  duty  of  twisting 
the  neck  of  a  child  if  it  should  be  born  feet-fore- 
most, and  of  performing  a  like  ceremony  in  case  of 
twins.  The  new-born  babe  is  brought  to  the  door 
of  the  father's  hut.  The  father  then  takes  the 
feather  of  a  vulture,  singes  it  in  a  flame,  and  holds 
the  smouldering  feather  under  the  nose  of  the  babe. 
The  vulture  is  supposed  to  be  a  valiant  and  brave 
fighter,  and  the  babe  is  supposed  to  imbibe  the  qual- 
ities of  the  bird."^  Then  the  medicine  man  performs 
a  magic  rite  to  see  if  the  ancestral  spirit  is  pleased 
with  the  child.^  Among  the  Bechuana,  the  third 
day  after  delivery,  the  mother's  breast  is  scratched 
and  rubbed  with  medicinal  roots.  Both  husband  and 
wife  go  through  a  purification  by  sitting  crosswise 
opposite  each  other  on  an  amulet  stick,  after  which 
they  are  smeared  with  medicinal  ointment.  The 
w^itch-doctor  then  makes  them  drink  healing  water. 
A  husband  will  swell  up  and  die  if  he  omits  this 
process.^  Among  the  Kafir,  about  the  fourth  week 
after  a  child  is  born,  an  ox  is  sacrificed  as  a  thanks- 

5  II,  p.  436. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  370. 

TKidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  21. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

9  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  369,  370. 


264  THE  NEGEO  RACES 


giving,  and  all  of  the  clan  rejoice  in  tlie  feast.^^  A 
forest  bird  causes  children  to  grow  their  second 
teeth,  and  on  this  account  a  child  will  throw  his  first 
loose  tooth  into  the  air  and  call  upon  the  bird  to  give 
him  another  one.^^  An  infant  may  not  leave  the  hut 
until  a  month  old.  Then  it  is  sprinkled  with  magic 
powder  on  its  head,  and  the  doctor  says,  *'God  spare 
this  child  to  us. It  is  also  scratched  in  many  parts 
of  the  body  and  has  a  fetich  medicine  rubbed  in.^^ 

Chiefs  of  equal  rank  try  to  avoid  meeting,  because 
a  salutation  of  one  to  the  other  would  mean  subor- 
dination.^^ When  a  Zulu  chief  dies,  his  funeral  is 
accompanied  by  a  large  concourse  of  mourners  who 
devour  hundreds  of  slaughtered  cattle,  and  drink 
copiously  of  palm-wine,  beer,  and  spirits  brought  in 
enormous  quantities  for  the  carnival.^*  When  a 
member  of  a  Bechuana  tribe  dies,  his  grave  is  bathed 
in  medicine  water,  and  the  footprints  of  the  bearers 
of  the  corpse  are  sprinkled  with  water  from  a  conse- 
crated horn;  and  their  fingers  are  scratched  and 
medicine  rubbed  in  the  wounds.  The  relations  kneel 
on  the  grave.  No  cow  is  milked  on  the  day  of  death. 
Each  member  of  the  kraal  eats  one  grain  of  the 
deceased's  corn  with  some  dry  cow-dung.  All  the 
mourners  return  to  their  huts  and  enter  head  last.^^ 
It  is  very  common  for  food,  ornaments  and  articles 
of  apparel  to  be  placed  on  graves.^^  The  Kafir  gen- 
erally bury  with  respect  only  the  chiefs.  Common 

loKidd,  "Savage  Childhood,  p.  25;  Macdonald,  p.  26. 

11  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  83.  i*  Ratzel,  II,  p.  373. 

i2Ratzel,  II,  p.  370.  ifi  Ibid.,  p.  371. 

IS  Macdonald,  p.  266.  le  Macdonald,  p.  275. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  265 


people  are  thrown  into  an  open  ditch  as  a  feast  for 
hyenas  and  jackals. 

Esthetic  Life. — Nearly  all  of  the  cattle  people  scar 
their  bodies.^'^  The  Kafirs  cut  short  lines  across 
their  nose,  forehead,  cheeks  and  breasts.^^  The  Ny- 
ambanas  wear  a  row  of  pimples  or  warts,  the  size  of 
a  pea,  from  the  forehead  to  the  tip  of  the  nose.  A 
Bachapin  Kafir,  who  has  distinguished  himself,  may 
wear  a  long  scar  on  his  thigh.^^  The  facts  stated  in 
this  book  in  regard  to  tattooing  do  not  bear  out  the 
theory  of  Him  that  it  arises  from  the  notion  thai 
it  gave  magic  strength  to  fighters.  Knocking  out 
or  filing  the  upper  front  teeth  is  common  among  the 
Herero  and  Batoka,  but  is  not  practiced  among  the 
Zulu.^^  Puncturing  the  ears,  and  using  the  openings 
as  a  substitute  for  a  pocket,  is  a  common  practice. 
Sometimes  snuff  boxes  are  carried  in  these  open- 
ings. 

The  tonsorial  art  reaches  fantastic  and  dizzy 
heights  of  aesthetic  expression.  The  northern 
Kafir,  after  puberty,  wears  a  tuft  made  hard  with 
a  mixture  of  charcoal  and  grease.^^  Sometimes  it 
stands  upright  to  a  great  height  resembling  the  Eiffel 
Tower,^^  again  it  is  cut  short  resembling  a  paint 
brush,2*  or  it  is  spread  out  like  the  horns  of  a  buf- 


falo.25 


iTFritseh,  p.  15. 

18  Macdonald,  p.  267. 

19  Avebury,  p.  60. 
soRatzel,  II,  pp.  466,  551. 
21  Bent,  p.  355. 


22Ratzel,  II,  p.  427. 
23  Bent,  p.  258. 
2*  Ibid.,  p.  90 
25Ratzel,  II,  p.  507. 


266  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


The  natives  often  disguise  the  natural  color  of 
their  skin  by  paint.  The  Bechuana  smear  their 
bodies  with  an  ointment  of  a  metallic  luster;  and 
the  Zulu  in  time  of  war  rub  their  bodies  with  grease 
and  red  ochre.  Body  painting  is  also  practiced  by 
the  Zulu  in  connection  with  the  ceremony  of  circum- 
cision.^^ 

Personal  decorations  are  used  in  profusion. 
Warriors  wear  a  round  cockade  of  ostrich  feathers 
on  their  heads,  and  often  as  many  as  eight  copper 
rings  around  their  necks,  besides  rings  of  similar 
material  on  their  arms,  legs,  and  in  their  ears.-^ 
Iron  rings  often  take  the  place  of  copper,  but  copper 
is  preferred,  and  is  sometimes  obtained  from  the 
brass  hooks  of  old  boots.-^  Zulu  kings  bestow  heavy 
bronze  arm  rings  on  their  successful  warriors. 
Decorations  play  even  a  greater  role  among  the 
women  than  the  men.^^ 

Tools,  weapons  and  houses  are  often  ornamented 
with  admirable  taste.  Knives  have  carved  ivory 
handles.^^  Spoons  are  ornamented  with  a  carved 
giraff,  or  hog,  or  other  animal.^  ^  The  Bechuana  ex- 
cel all  other  Kafirs  in  originality,  elegance,  and  fine- 
ness of  wood  carving.^ 2  In  some  of  the  Bech- 
uana houses  the  walls  and  doors  are  ornamented 

26  Ratzel,  II,  p.  427 ;  Johnston,  Lydekker,  et  al.,  p.  432. 

27  Moffat,  p.  363. 

28  Bent,  p.  251. 

29  Fritscli,  p.  62. 

30  Moffat,  p.  535. 
3i76tc?.,  p.  509. 
32llatzel,  II,  p.  430. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  267 


with  a  kind  of  architectural  effect.  '^Pillars  sup- 
porting the  roof  in  the  form  of  pilasters  projecting 
from  the  walls,  and,  adorned  with  flutings  and  other 
designs,  showed  much  taste  in  the  architectress.'^ 
The  seats  inside  of  the  houses  are  supported  by 
carved  figures  of  men  and  animals — often  degenerat- 
ing into  grotesque  designs.  The  seats  are  difficult 
to  distinguish  from  the  neckrests.^*  The  Bechuana 
show  taste  in  their  pottery  and  in  the  weaving  of 
mats  and  baskets. 

Of  the  dress  of  the  people  little  is  to  be  said.  The 
Zulu  men  and  women  of  the  commonalty  wear  only 
a  leather  apron,  often  adorned  with  cat-tails.  The 
wives  of  chiefs  wear  an  ox-hide  toga  reaching  to  the 
feet.^^  The  Bechuana  are  not  so  nude.  The  women 
wear  an  apron  before  and  behind,  the  fore  one 
adorned  with  leather  fringes,  beads,  etc.  The 
aprons  of  the  rich  are  made  of  the  furs  of  the  jackal, 
wild  cat,  or  other  animal.  The  chief  *s  apron  is 
made  of  leopard  skin.  The  poor  wear  cow  skin,  or 
goat  skin.  Some  tribes  wear  bark-cloth  made  from 
the  fig  tree,  and  others  wear  fabrics  woven  from  fiax 
or  cotton.^^  The  Matebele  wear  caps  made  of  the 
tiger-cat  or  zebra  skin.  The  Bechuana  wear  a  small 
straw  hat.^^    The  Herero  are  the  only  people  who 

33  Moffat,  p.  524. 

34  Frobenius,  "Tlie  Origin  of  African  Civilizations,"  "Report 
Sjnithsonian  Institute,"  1898,  p.  644. 

35  Ankermann,  p.  62. 

38  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  507,  508,  545 ;  Theal,  "History  and  Ethnography 
of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  156;  Schurtz,  p.  140. 
37Ck)nder,  p.  87. 


268  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


cover  their  feet  with  sandals.^^  The  elite  of  the 
Bechuana  carry  a  parasol  made  of  black  ostrich 
feathers  .^^ 

Some  of  the  Kafir  tribes  display  skill  in  sculpture, 
but  none  in  drawing  or  painting.  They  have  even 
difficulty  in  understanding  a  drawing,  while  per- 
spective is  altogether  beyond  them.'*^  They  pay  lit- 
tle attention  to  the  aspect  of  things  and  never  admire 
the  scenery."*^  Upon  the  whole,  the  pastoral  people 
of  this  zone  do  not  give  so  much  attention  to  the 
beautif}T.ng  of  themselves  and  their  workmanship 
as  the  peoples  nearer  the  equator. 

Psychological  Chaxacteristics. — In  cranial  capacity 
the  Kafir  stands  above  the  inhabitants  of  the  manioc 
or  banana  zone,^^  and  shows  a  corresponding  superi- 

ssRatzel,  II,  p,  470. 
39  Moffat,  p.  504. 
*o  Avebury,  p.  44. 

41  Kidd,  "Savage  Childliood,"  p.  126. 

■is  "Of  the  tribes  below  the  Zambesi,"  says  Shrubsall,  "we  find  the 
skulls  of  this  race  are  large,  heavy  and  of  good  capacity,  while 
the  range  of  individual  variatioil  is  greater  than  that  between  dif- 
ferent tribes.'*  The  average  capacity  of  all  male  Kafirs  is  1540  c.  e. 
"The  capacity  of  the  Kafir  skulls  is  considerably  larger  than  that 
of  other  African  Negroes,  the  average  being 

West  African  negro  1420  c.c. 

Central  Lakes  negro  1430  c.c. 

Koranna   negro  1425  c.  c. 

True  Hottentot  negro  1365  c.c." 

"A  Study  of  A-Bantu  Skulls  and  Crania,"  Jour.  Anthropological 
Institute,  n.  s.  Vol.  I,  p.  57. 

Viewed  from  above  the  skulls  of  the  Zulu  (Xosas)  present  an  oval 
outline,  varying  between  the  Forma  ovoides  and  the  Forma  ellipsoides 
of  Sergi.  .  .  .  Both  the  frontal  and  parietal  eminences  are  promi- 
nent.   (Page  57.) 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  269 


ority  in  mental  power  and  intelligence.^^  They  have 
a  degree  of  energy,  spirit  and  audacity  uncommon  in 
the  Negro.  They  are  credited  with  courage  in  war,^* 
and  the  spirit  of  overcoming  is  shown  more  in  their 
folklore  than  in  that  of  other  branches  of  the  Negro 
race.*^  And  also  they  *^do  not  live  in  everlasting 
dread  of  spirits."  The  thought  of  evil  spirits  is  not 
even  a  terror  to  ohildren.^^  Their  military  life  and 
habit  of  manipulating  men  has  developed  a  degree  of 
constructive  imagination  far  beyond  that  of  any 
other  races  of  Africa.  Their  strategy  in  war  and 
diplomacy  in  politics  would  do  credit  to  any  race ;  and 
some  of  their  military  leaders  have  been  not  inaptly 
compared  to  Caesar.  In  1852,  when  Sir  George 
Cathcart  invaded  Basutoland,  his  army  was  led  into 

The  Bechuana  are  intermediate  between  the  Xosas  and  the 
Negroes  of  the  Great  Lakes.  (Page  71.)  Their  crania  are  ellip- 
soidal and  less  in  capacity  than  those  of  the  Xosas.  The  average 
is  about  1420  c.  c. 

In  the  western  branch  of  the  Kafir,  the  Ova  Mpo  and  Ba-kalahari 
show  a  larger  capacity.  The  Herero  average  about  1640  c.  c.  and 
the  Ova  Mpo  about  1512  c.  c.    (Page  71.) 

"South  of  the  Vaal  the  Basuto  and  Kafir  skulls  are  more  infantile 
and  seem  to  show  intermixture  with  the  Bushmen  and  Hottentot 
race,  which  still  survives  in  the  western  corner  of  the  African  con- 
tinent. Such  intermixture  is  indicated  by  the  diminished  height, 
capacity,  and  prognathism  of  the  skull."    (Page  88.) 

"To  the  east,  the  type  is  modified  and  softened  down,  the  crania 
becoming  more  leptorrhine,  leptoprospic  and  microseme,  while  the 
cephalic  index  is  slightly  raised."    (Page  88.) 

43Conder,  p.  81;  Livingstone,  "Travels  and  Researches,"  p.  20. 

**  Conder,  p.  81;  Livingstone,  "Travels  and  Researches,"  p.  38; 
Ratzel,  II,  p.  424. 

*5Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  pp.  228,  249. 

46/6tU,  p.  132. 


270  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


a  trap  by  the  simple  stratagem  on  the  part  of  the 
native  leader,  Moshesh,  of  exposing  an  immense 
herd  of  cattle  in  a  position  on  the  Berea  mountain 
where  their  capture  appeared  easy.  The  British 
army  was  surprised,  defeated  and  forced  to  re- 
treat.^ ^  These  military  leaders  are  of  great  value 
to  the  people  in  that  they  serve  as  models  for  the 
aspiring  youth.  They  incite  a  spirit  of  rivalry  and 
of  hero  worship.  To  have  any  kind  of  hero  indicates 
a  decided  advance  over  a  state  in  which  the  people 
are  bound  by  habit  and  tradition.  Great  men  in  any 
community  are  evidence  of  departure  from  conven- 
tionality. A  higher  form  of  leadership,  not  attained 
by  the  uncivilized,  is  that  based  upon  examples  be- 
longing to  art  and  history.  Our  highest  ideals  come 
to  us  from  people  whom  we  do  not  chance  to  know 
in  the  flesh.^^  The  Kafir  has  less  fear  and  is  less  a 
slave  to  custom  than  the  Negroes  of  the  north.  Fear 
always  breeds  custom.^^  The  Zulu  are  especially 
pugnacious.  Their  characteristic  expression  is  de- 
fiance. They  have  a  firmer  will  and  more  rapid  de- 
cision than  their  neighbors.^^  They  maintain  a 
forceful  mood  and  constitute  a  forceful  tjipe.  The 
Herero  are  self-willed  and  sullen,  hard  to  approach, 
and  more  moved  by  reason  than  emotion.^ ^  The 
Bechuana  are  of  a  softer  and  more  gentle  stamp 

47  Theal,  "History  of  South  Africa,"  p.  265. 

48Cooley,  "Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order,"  p.  361. 

49  Ross,  "Social  Psychology,"  p.  203. 

50  Ratzel,  II,  pp.  423,  425. 
6i/6icZ.,  p.  466. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  271 


but  very  versatile.^^  Tlie  Kafir  have  numerals  ex- 
tending to  one  hundred,  and  their  language  is  * '  ade- 
quate for  the  expression  of  any  ideas  whatever.'' 

The  feelings  of  the  Kafir  are  characterized  as  ex- 
citable and  explosive.^*  So  long  as  a  Kafir's  pas- 
sions are  not  excited  he  is  as  merry  and  innocent 
as  a  child,  loving  songs  and  dances,  and  is  as  so- 
ciable as  an  ant.^^  But  he  is  easily  provoked  into 
outbursts  of  violence.  He,  however,  is  not  so  much 
swayed  by  feeling  as  the  average  Negro.  He  acts 
more  on  reason  and  his  will  has  more  consistency. 

The  inhibiting  power  of  the  Kafir  is,  therefore, 
more  developed  than  that  of  the  people  of  the  equa- 
torial region.  This  power  is  built  up  by  the  social 
struggle  and  favorable  conditions  of  climate.  Var- 
iable and  trying  climates,  says  Dexter,  train  and 
educate  the  mind  to  self-control.^^ 

Within  the  family  group  the  Kafir  show  the  vir- 
tures  of  affection,  kindness  and  mutual  helpfulness 
characteristic  of  all  peoples;  and  these  virtues  ex- 
tend in  a  great  measure  to  all  the  members  of  the 
tribe.  Any  member  within  a  tribe  may  stop  wher- 
ever he  may  chance  to  be  and  partake  of  food  and 
drink  without  invitation.^ ^    Honesty  within  the 

82  76tU,  p.  425;  Fritsch,  p.  165. 

BsTheal,  "History  and  Ethnography  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  76; 
Crawford,  "Numerals  as  Evidence  of  the  Progress  of  Civilization/* 
Transactions  of  the  Ethnological  Society,  n.  s.  Vol.  II,  p.  89. 

54  Fritsch,  p.  56. 

85  Ratzel,  II,  p.  425. 

56  Page  26. 

BTKidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  30. 


272  THE  NEGKO  EACES 


group  seems  to  be  prevalent,^^  and  parents  punish 
their  children  if  they  lie.^^  The  lying  and  stealing 
charged  against  the  Kafir  are  probably  traits  mani- 
fested only  towards  strangers.^^  There  is  one  re- 
spect in  which  the  conduct  within  the  primitive 
group  is  very  inferior  to  that  of  the  civilized.  The 
individuals  of  the  primitive  group  are  susceptible  to 
deeper  envy.  Any  Kafir  who  rises  above  the  com- 
monalty in  possessions  is  liable  to  decapitation,  and 
confiscation  of  his  property,  through  a  charge  of 
witchcraft.  This  envy  among  the  Negroes  renders 
progress  towards  civilization  exceedingly  difficult.^ ^ 
For  all  people  outside  the  group,  connected  by 
alimentation  and  blood,  there  is  little  consideration. 
The  attitude  towards  strangers,  however,  varies 
much  in  different  localities.  The  Bechuana  who  live 
under  hard  conditions  seem  to  have  a  wider  human 
sympathy.  Conder  remarks,  that  *^  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  hospitality  between  the  tribes.  Thus  the 
Batlaping,  who  were  starving  at  Taung,  went  with 
their  families  in  1885  to  visit  Mafeking,  when  the 
Barolong  had  a  good  harvest.  These  visitors  were 
fed  a  month  and  sent  home  with  bags  of  mealies  in 
their  wagons. ''^^  Among  the  Zulu  and  eastern 
tribes,  incessant  raiding,  pillaging  and  fighting  have 
intensified  their  cold-heartedness  towards  stran- 
gers.   There  is  no  wrong  in  stealing  from  a  rival 

68  Livingstone,  "Travels  and  Researches,"  p.  219. 
68  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  128. 

60  Conder,  p.  81;  Fritsch,  p.  53. 

61  Theal,  ''History  and  Ethnology  of  South  Africa,"  I,  p.  103. 

62  Page  87. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  273 


tribe  or  stranger,  and  any  man  who  injures  a 
member  of  another  tribe  does  a  meritorious  act.^* 
The  chief  ambition  of  a  Matebele  is  to  kill  his  first 
man,  and  each  aspiring  youth  is  required  to  pass 
through  human  smoke .^^  The  Kafir,  though  ranking 
above  most  Negroes,  have  less  power  of  s^Tupathiz- 
ing  with  others  than  a  European.  They  are  slow  in 
locating  pain  in  their  own  bodies,  and  also  in  im- 
agining what  others  suffer.^^ 

Tribal  wars  have  tended  to  unify  and  socialize 
members  within  the  groups,  and  to  intensify  hostil- 
ity towards  those  outside.*^^  The  general  effect  of 
war  everywhere  has  been  to  socialize  within  the 
group.  According  to  McDougall,  wars  *4iave  de- 
veloped in  the  surviving  groups  just  those  social  and 
moral  qualities  of  individuals  which  are  essential 
conditions  of  all  effective  cooperation  and  of  the 
higher  forms  of  association.'' .  .  .  And  the  more 
the  pugnacious  instinct  impelled  primitive  societies 
to  warfare,  the  more  rapidly  and  effectively  must  the 
fundamental  social  attributes  of  men  have  been  de- 
veloped in  the  societies  w^hich  survived  the  or- 
deal.''^^  In  the  light  of  this  principle,  the  Zulu 
groups,  on  account  of  their  more  pugnacious  activ- 
ities, should  have  become  more  highly  socialized 

63  Moffat,  p.  289 ;  Kidd,  "Kafir  Socialism,"  p.  67. 
«*Kida,  Ibid.,  p.  18. 
65Ratzel,  II,  p.  350. 

66  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  64. 

67  Kidd,  "Savage  Childhood,"  p.  75. 

68  Page  287. 

69  Page  288. 


274  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


than  tlie  other  tribes  of  South  Africa.  Their  fail- 
ure to  become  so  socialized  must  be  attributed  to  the 
absence  of  a  varied  economic  field  of  conflict  into 
which  the  fighting  impulse  could  be  carried  over. 
In  countries  more  favored  with  natural  resources 
and  climate  for  individual  development  the  pugna- 
cious instinct  can  be  converted  into  a  social  asset.'^ 
The  instinct  of  repulsion  among  the  Kafirs  is  not 
manifested  in  the  unsocial  manner  in  which  it  is  dis- 
played by  the  people  of  the  banana  zone.  This  in- 
stinct which,  in  the  lower  stages  of  culture,  is  spent 
blindly  and  injuriously  against  individuals  within 
the  group,  tends  to  be  transformed  by  warfare  into 
resentment  against  foreigners,  and  against  any  ac- 
tion within  the  group  detrimental  to  the  general 
good.  It  becomes  an  important  factor  in  moral 
consciousness.  The  faihire  of  this  instinct  to  foster 
morals  among  the  Kafirs  is  due  to  the  same  cause 
as  that  which  prevents  the  socializing  effects  of 
tribal  conflicts,  to  wit:  the  absence  of  a  complex  so- 
cial medium  in  which  natural  instincts  may  be  dif- 
fused. 

In  fact,  the  Kafir  has  very  little  moral  conscious- 
ness. In  all  things  he  is  so  much  governed  by  tra- 
dition and  habit  that  he  is  rarely  thrown  on  his 
private  judgment.  He  has  no  sense  of  I  ought." 
This  sense  develops  under  conditions  which  give  rise 
to  new  and  unexpected  situations. 

The  Kafir  differs  from  other  Africans  in  posses- 

70  McDoiigall,  p.  293. 

71  Kidd,  '"Savage  Childhood,"  p.  12U 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  275 


sing  more  idealism.  He  finds  models  for  this  in  his 
military  heroes  and  in  the  great  spirits  of  his  an- 
cestors. The  climate  is  somewhat  favorable  to  it 
and  he  has  also  the  constructive  imagination  nec- 
essary to  its  formation.  Kafir  idealism,  however, 
is  feeble  compared  to  that  of  civilized  people.  The 
present  realities  greatly  predominate  in  his  con- 
sciousness.'^^ 

Contact  with  civilization  has  been  in  a  large 
measure  a  poison  to  the  Kafir.  A  few  of  them, 
raised  and  educated  under  the  personal  examples 
of  Caucasians,  have  attained  to  a  high  degree  of 
mental  and  moral  culture,  but  such  opportunities 
of  contact  come  only  to  a  very  limited  number. 
The  masses  are  isolated  from  the  whites,  and  have 
no  chance  to  assimilate  culture  by  intimate  associa- 
tion. They  therefore  imitate  of  the  white  man's  cul- 
ture only  that  which  is  observed  in  the  street,  i.  e.,  his 
vices  rather  than  his  virtues.  Close  relations  to 
a  few  people,''  says  Ross,  **as  in  the  well-knit  family 
and  joined  to  a  vivid  sense  of  obligation  to  the  com- 
munity, seem  to  be  more  favorable  to  stable  char- 
acter than  the  loose  touch-and-go  associations  of 
general  intercourse.""^^  The  superficial  and  ex- 
ternal aspects  of  civilization  the  Kafir  can  assume, 
and  in  this  half  adoption,  he  loses  the  best  of  his 
native  traits. 

Especially  deplorable  is  the  physical  degeneracy 
which  inevitably  follows  contact  with  civilization.'^* 

72  Fritsch,  p.  51.  7*  Conder,  p.  80. 

78  "Social  Psychology,"  p.  88. 


276  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


**The  fate  of  the  black  man,"  says  Cole,  ''is  written 
in  the  history  of  the  past :  slowly  but  surely  he  passes 
away  from  the  face  of  the  earth — ^year  by  year  his 
numbers  diminish — ^his  race  is  exterminated.  The 
Kafir 's  time  is  well-nigh  come. ' '  '^^  Speaking  in  gen- 
eral of  savage  peoples,  McDougall  says,  that  they 
-**are  rapidly  dying  out,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the 
social  sanctions  to  give  sufficient  support  to  the  pa- 
rental instinct  against  developing  intelligence.  It  is 
largely  for  this  reason  that  contact  with  civilization 
proves  so  fatal  to  so  many  savage  peoples ;  for  such 
contact  stimulates  their  intelligence,  while  it  breaks 
the  power  of  their  customs  and  social  sanctions  gen- 
erally and  fails  to  replace  them  by  any  equally  ef- 
ficient.''^^ 

Even  the  good  things  of  civilization  do  not  always 
suit  the  Negro ;  for  instance,  our  dress,  diet,  school- 
strain  and  individualism.  **The  virtues  and  arts 
of  civilization,"  says  Sumner,  ''are  almost  as  dis- 
astrous to  the  uncivilized  as  its  vices.  It  is  really 
the  great  tragedy  of  civilization  that  the  contact  of 
the  lower  and  higher  is  disastrous  to  the  former,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  point  of  contact,  or  how 
little  the  civilized  may  desire  to  do  harm. "  Some- 
times harm  comes  solely  from  a  too  rapid  introduc- 
tion of  new  cultureJ^ 

Now,  to  summarize  some  of  the  most  general  con- 

75  Page  49. 

76  Page  270. 

77  Page  111. 

78  Ulysses  G.  Weatherly,  "Race  and  Marriage,"  Am.  Jour.  Soci- 
ology, XV,  No.  4,  p.  452. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  277 

elusions  of  the  study  of  tlie  Negro  in  Africa,  it 
should  be  said,  first,  that  the  Negro  races  respond  to 
environment  in  the  different  zones  of  Africa  just 
as  the  Caucasian  and  Mongolian  races  form  different 
types  in  their  respective  localities.  If  there  is  a 
difference  of  races  in  plasticity  and  responsiveness 
to  external  phenomena  it  is  probably  in  favor  of 
the  Negro.  There  are  probably  greater  diversities 
of  the  Negro  in  Africa  than  of  the  Caucasian  in 
Europe  and  America.  The  African  Negro  varies 
from  the  shortest  to  almost  the  tallest  of  men,  from 
a  very  dark  color  to  a  complexion  lighter  than  that 
of  many  Caucasians,  from  the  flat  to  the  straight 
nose,  from  the  thick  to  the  thin  lip,  from  the  progna- 
thous to  the  orthognathous  jaw,  from  the  receding 
to  the  almost  prominent  forehead.  And  the  con- 
trasts in  psychological  characteristics  are  not  less 
striking. 

The  backwardness  of  the  NegTo  in  Africa  is  not 
due  directly  to  lack  of  mental  capacity  but  to  un- 
favorable environment.  Natural  selection  has  ad- 
justed the  mental  capacity  to  the  conditions.  If 
any  other  race  had  peopled  Africa  in  early 
neolithic  times,  and  remained  there  until  now,  it 
would  have  advanced  no  higher  than  the  present 
culture  level  of  the  Negro.  *  *  The  map  of  isotherms, ' ' 
says  Ellen  Semple,  shows  Africa  quite  enclosed 
between  the  two  torrid  lines  of  20  Centigrade,  ex- 
cept for  a  narrow  sub-tropical  belt  along  the  Bar- 
bary  coast  in  the  north,  and  in  the  south  an  equally 
narrow  littoral  extending  east  and  north  from  the 


I 


278  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


Cape  of  Good  Hope.  At  first  glance,  the  large  area 
of  South  Africa,  lying  on  the  temperate  side  of  the 
Tropic  of  Capricorn,  raises  hopes  for  a  rich  eco- 
nomic, social  and  cultural  development  here;  but 
these  are  dashed  by  the  examination  of  the  iso- 
therms. Excessive  heat  lays  its  retarding  touch 
upon  everything,  while  a  prevailing  aridity  (rain- 
fall less  than  ten  inches),  except  on  the  narrow 
windward  slope  of  the  eastern  mountains,  gives  the 
last  touch  of  climatic  monotony.  The  coastal  belt 
of  Cape  Colony  and  Natal  raises  tropical  and  sub- 
tropical products,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  continent, 
while  the  semi-arid  interior  is  committed  with  little 
variations  to  pastoral  life.  Climatic  monotony, 
operating  alone,  would  have  condemned  South  Af- 
rica to  poverty  of  development,  and  will  unquestion- 
ably always  avail  to  impoverish  its  national  life.'' 

The  question  naturally  arises.  Could  the  Negro 
race,  under  a  favorable  environment,  develop  to  the 
same  degree  of  culture  as  the  Caucasian  or  Mongo- 
lian? A  correct  answer  to  this  question  can  be  given 
only  by  history.  The  experiment  is  being  made, 
by  the  Negroes  transplanted  to  America,  of  which 
the  third  volume  of  this  series  will  deal.  In  view 
of  the  known  modifiability  of  races  it  seems  reason- 
able to  assume  that  the  Negro  would  be  thoroughly 
capable  of  evolving  a  ci^^lization,  but  such  a  result 
would  require  a  long  process  of  natural  selection, 
and  freedom  from  the  antagonistic  influences  of  the 
more  fortunate  races. 

7»Page  623. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  279 


Eace  traits  and  tendencies  are  very  slow  to  change 
whether  looked  at  from  the  standpoint  of  heredity 
or  social  environment.  Character,''  says  Patten, 
**is  formed  by  the  long  series  of  environments  in 
which  a  race  has  lived.  Each  change  to  a  jiew  en- 
vironment brings  out  new  traits  by  creating  new 
motor  adjustments,  but  it  does  not  of  necessity  de- 
stroy the  earlier  traits.  Many  of  them  abide  and 
are  brought  out  more  clearly  by  the  new  condi- 
tions."^^ At  present  the  most  conspicuous  charac- 
teristic of  the  Negro  is  an  excessive  emotionalism. 
A  change  of  environment  may  modify  suddenly  and 
radically  the  activity  and  habits  of  a  people, 
but  their  temperament,  which  is  a  part  of  their  or- 
ganic nature,  can  be  changed  only  by  a  slow  process 
of  evolution.  An  individual  who  inherits  a  choleric 
temperament  may,  according  to  opportunity  and 
stimulation,  become  superstitious  and  degraded,  or 
a  distinguished  artist,  poet  or  musician,  but  he  could 
not,  under  any  circumstances,  transform  himself  into 
a  phlegmatic  or  melancholic  temperament.  Races, 
as  individuals,  have  inherited  emotional  character- 
istics, and  these  must  always  color  the  products  of 
their  intellects.  *^The  character,"  says  Ribot, 
^ '  sends  its  roots  down  into  the  unconscious,  i.  e.,  into 
the  individual  organism:  this  is  what  makes  it  so 
difficult  to  penetrate  or  modify.  The  intellectual 
dispositions  can  only  exercise  an  indirect  action  in 
its  constitution."^^ 

Furthermore,  the  instincts  of  the  Negro  differ 

80  Page  4.  81  Page  892. 


280  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


from  those  of  the  Caucasian  in  intensity  and  direc- 
tion. Under  changed  conditions  they  would,  no 
doubt,  be  greatly  modified,  but  they  would  never 
behave  in  the  same  way  as  those  of  the  Caucasian. 
A  Negro  civilization,  therefore,  would  be  unique  and 
unlike  that  of  any  other  race. 

The  great  mistake  of  the  statesmen,  missionr 
aries,  philanthropists,  and  sentimentalists  is  in  sup- 
posing that  it  is  desirable  to  make  over  all  races 
in  the  likeness  of  the  white  man.  Races  of  men,  as 
species  of  plants,  should  be  cultivated  along  the 
lines  of  their  special  endowment.  It  is  variation 
and  differentiation  that  characterize  progress  in 
mankind  as  in  all  other  forms  of  life. 

It  would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  culture  of  the  world 
if  the  races  of  men  should  ever  become  homoge- 
neous. For  instance,  it  would  be  a  misfortune  if  all 
races  should  come  to  have  the  meditative,  intro- 
spective and  phlegmatic  disposition  of  the  Germans, 
or  the  active,  daring,  and  intensely  practical  dis- 
position of  the  English  and  Americans,  or  the  rol- 
licking, emotional  and  volatile  disposition  of  the 
Negro.  Great  superiority  of  mental  development 
in  one  direction  implies  inferiority  in  other  direc- 
tions.^2  A  race  living  an  out-door  life,  and  receiv- 
ing most  of  its  stimulations  through  the  medium  of 
the  eye,  will  necessarily  develop  a  kind  of  emotion- 
alism that  produces  in  the  mind  pictorial  and  artistic 
imagery.^^  A  race  living  an  in-door  life,  in  a  climate 
overcast  with  cloud,  will  tend  to  develop  the  powers 

82  Bain,  p.  95.  «sjr6i<?.,  p.  100. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CATTLE  ZONE  281 


of  abstraction  and  reflection  at  the  expense  of  the 
emotions.  It  cannot  be  strongly  affected  by  that 
concrete  imagery  which  favors  the  growth  of  the 
most  beautiful  sentiments.^^ 

A  deplorable  error  of  missionary  work  in  Africa 
and  elsewhere  has  been  the  effort  to  reconstruct  the 
natives  in  the  likeness  of  the  Europeans.  Besides 
not  being  desirable  it  is  impossible.  The  introduc- 
tion of  European  civilization  among  the  Negroes  of 
Africa  has  had  a  tendency  to  disorganize  the  race 
and  bring  about  its  extinction.  This  has  been  so, 
not  because  the  Negro  lacks  the  capacity  for  higher 
culture,  but  because  the  methods  of  introducing 
it  have  been  bad.  Either  the  process  of  undermining 
the  old  culture  has  been  too  rapid,  or  the  elements 
of  new  culture  have  not  been  imparted  in  their 
proper  order,  or  they  have  not  been  the  kind  suited 
to  the  psychological  and  environmental  conditions 
of  the  race.  Only  a  radical  change  in  the  methods 
thus  far  employed  by  the  administrators  and  mis- 
sionary workers  in  Africa  can  overcome  this  ten- 
dency. 

The  final  outcome  of  the  white  man's  invasion  of 
Africa,  is,  therefore,  not  promising  for  the  Negro. 
If  the  issue  depended  solely  upon  the  work  of  the 
missionaries  the  present  injurious  effects  of  their 
activities  might  be  corrected  by  a  change  of  policy. 
But,  unfortunately  for  every  missionary  in  Africa, 
there  are  thousands  of  white  exploiters  who  teach 
the  natives  all  the  vices  of  civilization  and  infect 

84/6id.,  p.  100. 


282 


THE  NEGRO  EACES 


them  with  deadly  diseases,  thus  counteracting 
whatever  good  the  missionaries  may  do. 

The  European  Powers  dominant  in  Africa  hope 
that  the  natives  may  incidentally  become  civilized 
through  the  etTorts  of  the  missionary  and  the  school- 
house;  but  they  forget  that  more  of  the  natives 
are  imitating  the  exploiters  than  the  exhorters. 
What  can  be  expected  but  ruin  for  the  Negro  in  view 
of  the  examples  of  robbery,  oppression,  and  vice 
of  every  kind  furnished  by  the  representatives  of 
the  European  Powers  in  Africa?  Thus  far  the  in- 
terest of  the  Caucasian  in  the  backward  races  has 
been  that  of  exploitation  for  his  own  advantage. 
There  are  no  foreign  policies  primarily  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  subject  peoples.  The  African  Negro  has 
had  the  benefit  of  many  examples  of  heroism  and 
self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  missionaries  and  other 
workers  in  his  behalf,  but  will  these  avail  in  his 
sensitive  nature  against  the  spectacle  of  the  stronger 
race's  invasion  of  defenseless  territory  with  sword 
and  cannon,  the  usui-pation  of  land,  products  and 
labor,  and  the  pollution  of  morals  and  religion 
through  avarice  of  trade  and  insolence  of  depravity  ? 


CHAPTEB  XXII 


THE  NEGKOES  OF  THE  EAST 

The  Negro  peoples  east  of  Africa  are  as  follows : 
The  Andamans  or  Mincopies  in  the  islands  of  the 
sea  of  Bengal  west  of  India;  some  forest  tribes  in 
the  Malay  Peninsula;  the  Aket  of  Sumatra;  the 
Aeta  of  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands;  the  Papuans  of 
New  Guinea,  and  the  natives  of  the  Black  Islands 
extending  from  New  Guinea  to  Fiji;  the  Sakalavas 
of  Madagascar,  and  if  we  may  believe  recent  re- 
ports a  small  group  of  Negritos  in  the  highlands  of 
Ceylon.  A  Negrito  tribe  of  very  ape-like  features 
until  recently  lived  in  Java  but  it  is  now  extinct. 
The  Australians,  and  now  extinct  Tasmanians,  do 
not  properly  belong  to  the  Negro  races.  Their  hair, 
in  form  and  quantity,  their  skull  formation  and 
color  of  skin,  mark  them  oif  from  the  Negro  and 
place  them  in  a  class  by  themselves.  They  belong 
to  what  Tylor  calls  the  Brown  Eace. 

A  sociological  interpretation  of  these  peoples  is 
omitted  in  this  study  of  the  Eaces  of  Mankind  for 
the  reason  that  the  conditions  of  their  existence  are 
so  similar  in  many  particulars  to  those  of  the  Ne- 
groes of  Africa  that  a  discussion  of  their  psycho- 
logical characteristics  and  institutions  would  be  a 
tiresome  repetition  of  what  has  been  said  of  the 
Africans. 

283 


284  THE  NEGEO  EACES 


Something,  however,  should  be  said  of  the  ethno- 
logical relations  of  these  eastern  Negroes. 

Several  ethnologists  take  the  view  that  the  Bush- 
men, Hottentots  and  Pygmies  of  Africa  are  of  the 
same  race  as  the  Negritos  of  the  Andaman  Islands, 
of  the  Philippines,  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  of 
other  scattered  tribes  of  the  East.  It  is  claimed  that 
they  represent  an  aboriginal  population  once  oc- 
cupying a  vast  area  of  the  equatorial  continent 
which  in  a  former  geological  epoch  connected  Af- 
rica and  Asia;  that  the  now  predominant  taller 
Negroes  represent  a  variation  from  the  original 
pygmy,  being  a  superior  type  which  survived  in 
competition  with  the  parent  stock.  Some  support 
to  this  theory  is  found  in  the  statement  of  Sergi, 
based  upon  arclieological  and  anthropological  re- 
search, that  in  the  Neolithic  age  a  pygmy  race  not 
only  existed  in  Africa,  but  spread  round  the  Medi- 
terranean shores  and  extended  even  as  far  north  as 
Kussia.^  "While  this  question  is  one  for  the  anthro- 
pologists, among  whom  there  is  little  agreement,  the 
author  ventures  the  opinion  that  the  scattered 
pygmy  Negroes  represent  only  variations,  from  the 
larger  and  more  numerous  type,  arising  from  local 
conditions,  especially  conditions  of  scant  food  sup- 
ply, imposing  a  severe  struggle  for  existence.  There 
appears  to  be  no  general  uniformity  in  physiognomy 
among  these  scattered  groups  to  justify  the  theory 
of  their  racial  unity. 

1  Page  234. 


CHAPTEE  XXIII 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE 

Evidences  of  man's  existence  upon  the  earth 
reach  to  such  great  antiquity  that  the  time  can  be 
measured  only  in  geological  epochs.  If  we  begin  in 
the  oldest  and  lowest  geological  stratum,  and  search 
upwards  for  evidences  of  the  existence  of  animal  life 
on  the  earth,  we  shall  pass  through  the  palaeozoic 
and  mesozoic  epochs  without  finding  any  traces  of 
man.  In  these  two  epochs,  however,  we  observe  a 
gradual  ascent  in  animal  life  from  the  lowest  forms 
of  marine  life  to  animals  of  a  type  such  as  mollusks, 
amphibians,  reptiles  and  a  few  birds  and  mammals. 
Now,  glancing  upward  through  the  kainozoic  epoch, 
we  find  in  the  lowest  subdivision  of  that  epoch,  the 
eocene,  the  appearance  of  the  ancestor  of  the  horse, 
the  four-toed  orohippus ;  and  in  the  next  subdivision, 
the  miocene,  we  find  the  monkeys,  and  in  the  next 
subdivision,  the  pliocene,  we  find  the  anthropoid  apes 
which  correspond  almost  exactly  to  man  in  number 
and  form  of  bones  and  general  anatomy.  Whether 
man  existed  at  this  early  time  is  uncertain.  At  the 
close  of  the  pliocene  period  the  glacial  age  had  set  in 
— covering  northern  Europe  and  America  with  a 

285 


286  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


great  sheet  of  ice.  This  ice  age  lasted  probably 
three  or  four  thousand  years.^ 

Coming  now  to  the  geological  epoch  known  as  the 
Quaternary  or  Post  Tertiary,  and  examining  the 
strata  belonging  to  the  subdivision,  post-pliocene, 
we  find  that  the  first  ice  age  has  receded  and  a  sec- 
ond one  developed.  Between  these  ice  ages 
evidences  of  man's  existence  is  undoubted.  From 
that  epoch  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  metal  age, 
man's  existence  upon  the  earth  is  divided  by  an- 
thropologists into  three  sub-periods:  the  eolithic 
(dawn  of  stone),  the  palaeolithic  (old  stone),  and 
neolithic  (new  stone),  based  upon  the  character  and 
variety  of  man's  implements. 

The  eolithic  and  palaBolithic  periods  are  divided 
into  several  subdivisions,  according  to  country,  for 
instance,  Chellean,  Mousterian  and  Magdalenian,  etc. 
These  early  periods  belong  to  the  interglacial  epoch 
following  the  great  ice  age,^  when  the  geography 
of  the  earth  was  very  different  from  what  it  is 
now.  The  continents  of  Asia  and  America  were 
then  joined  together,  England  was  joined  to  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  Africa  and  Asia  were 
joined  by  a  continuous  land  area.  Immediately  fol- 
lowing the  great  ice  age,  Chellean  period,  the  climate 
of  Europe  was  mild  and  moist,  affording  a  home  for 
tropical  life.  Europe  harbored  such  animals  as 
the  smooth-skinned,  two-homed  rhinoceros,  the 
great  hippopotamus,  and  the  straight-tusked  ele- 

iKeane,  "Ethnology,*'  p.  57. 
sDeniker,  p.  305. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE  287 


pliant,  allied  to  species  now  found  in  Africa.  It  has 
been  conjectured  tliat  the  migration  of  animals  at 
this  time  must  have  been  from  south  to  north.  The 
irregular  extension  of  the  ice  sheet  would  have  pre- 
vented migration  from  the  east  to  the  west  or  the 
contrary.  The  fact  that  the  horse,  native  of  Asia, 
was  not  in  Europe  at  this  time  lends  additional 
probability  to  the  supposition  that  the  movement  of 
men  and  other  animals  was  from  the  south.^  At  this 
epoch  we  find  the  implements  and  other  evidences  of 
man,  but  no  unquestioned  skeletal  remains  of  him.^* 

Later  when  the  ice  sheets  again  advanced  south- 
ward and  the  climate  of  Europe  became  dry  and 
cold  (Mousterian  period),  we  discover  in  various 
parts  of  Europe  caves  containing  not  only  the  im- 
plements of  man  but  his  skeleton,  and  that  also  of 
the  animals  he  hunted  and  ate,  such  as  the  thick 
furred  mammoth,  the  reindeer,  etc.^ 

The  first  man,  according  to  the  fragments  of  his 
skeleton  found  in  this  second  period,  was  short  in 
stature,  having  a  long,  narrow  head,  receding  fore- 
head, heavy,  prognathous  jaw,  and  prominent  brow 
ridges.^  If  this  be  accepted  as  the  type  of  the  first 
man,  and  if  the  migrations  of  animals  in  palaeolithic 
times  was  from  the  south,  the  connection  between 
the  palaeolithic  man  and  the  African  Negro  is  very 

sDeniker,  p.  304;  Keane,  "Man:  Past  and  Present,"  p.  455. 

3a  Since  the  above  was  written  a  skull  and  jaw  of  man  have  been 
found  in  England  associated  with  eolithic  implements.  See  Chapin's 
"Social  Evolution"  for  an  up-to-date  discussion  of  this  subject. 

4Deniker,  p.  305;  Marett,  p.  46. 

BDeniker,  p.  311;  Marett,  pp.  37,  77. 


288  THE  NEGRO  RACES 


apparent.  Darwin,  Keane,  and  many  other  scien- 
tists claim  that  the  first  man  was  developed  in  Af- 
rica or  in  the  Indo-African  Continent.* 

The  African  Negro  seems  to  be  a  survival  of  the 
first  human  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  Perhaps  the 
first  man  differed  from  the  present  Negro  in  color 
of  skin,  hair  and  minor  features,  as,  according  to  the 
opinion  of  Quatrefages,  based  upon  the  theory  that 
the  evolution  of  the  individual  recapitulates  the  evo- 
lution of  the  race,  the  first  man  had  a  yellow  skin, 
and  somewhat  reddish  hair.''^  The  palaeolithic  men, 
who  remained  in  Africa,  may  have  there  developed 
the  black  skin  and  woolly  hair,  while  those  migrating 
north  and  east  may  have  developed  in  transit  the 
Caucasian  and  Mongolian  types.  That  the  white 
race  originated  in  Africa  is  now  generally  conceded. 
Sergi  traces  its  origin  to  the  Atlas  Mountains  and 
the  Great  Lakes.^ 

At  the  beginning  of  the  neolithic  period,  when  the 
climate  and  geology  of  the  earth  assumed  its  present 
state,  the  Negro  was  probably  in  possession  of  all 
Africa  except  some  districts  in  the  north.  Then  be- 
gan the  pressure  of  other  races  into  the  domain  of 
the  Negro.  The  Hamites  or  Berbers,  originating 
about  the  Great  Lakes,  or  in  the  Atlas  Mountains, 
mixed  with  the  Negroes  forming  the  Ethiopians  and 
probably  the  Egyptians,  who  then  drove  the  Negroes 

« Darwin,  **I>escent  of  Man,"  New  York,  1903,  p.  158;  Keane, 
"Ethnology,"  p.  375;  "Man:  Past  and  Present,"  pp.  5,  458. 
7**History  of  the  Human  Species,"  p.  242. 
8  "The  Mediterranean  Races,"  pp.  41,  43,  252. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NEGEO  RACE  289 


towards  the  south.  Later  the  Semites,  having  de- 
veloped their  special  features  in  Arabia,  invaded 
Africa  from  the  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  modifying  the 
type  of  the  Berber,  Egyptian,  Ethiopian  and  Negro. 
The  present  superiority  in  physique  and  intelligence 
of  the  Negroes  of  East  Africa  is  the  result  of  the 
infiltration  of  the  Caucasian  blood.  The  Negroes 
least  affected  by  immigration  are  those  of  Western 
Sudan  where  tribes  are  found  that  now  approximate 
closely  to  the  type  of  the  first  man. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


THE  NEGBOES  OF  LIBERIA 

The  Republic  of  Liberia,  comprising  in  its  popu- 
lation mostly  Americans  and  not  natives  of  Africa, 
was  not  considered  in  Volume  I  of  this  series  in 
its  treatment  of  the  races  of  West  Africa.  Before 
taking  leave  of  Africa,  however,  the  author  desires 
to  offer  a  few  remarks  upon  that  republic.  Its  ter- 
ritory embraces  a  strip  of  land  lying  about  300  miles 
along  the  northern  Guinea  Coast,  between  the  Brit- 
ish colony  of  Sierra  Leone  and  the  French  colony  of 
the  Ivory  Coast,  and  extending  inland  about  200 
miles.  It  is  subject  to  equatorial  rains,  and  has  a 
luxuriant  vegetation  and  varied  fauna,  mostly  trop- 
ical, including  a  superabundance  of  reptiles  and  in- 
sects. The  country  is  not  favorably  situated  for 
agriculture,  having  only  a  small  coast  line  of  level 
area,  and  the  hinterland  is  too  hilly  and  densely 
forested  for  the  pastoral  life.  A  short  distance 
from  the  coast  the  country  is  very  mountainous, 
some  of  the  peaks  rising  to  a  height  of  9,000  feet. 
The  population  comprising  the  tangible  republic  is 
distributed  along  the  coast  region  and  numbers 
about  15,000  Americo-Liberians  and  40,000  natives. 

290 


THE  NEGRO  OF  LIBERIA  291 


In  the  entire  area  of  the  republic  the  population  is 
perhaps  as  much  as  2,000,000. 

In  1821  the  American  Colonization  Society  began 
to  deport  to  this  country  detachments  of  emancipated 
Negroes,  and  a  great  migration  took  place  during 
the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1847 
the  colonists  declared  their  government  to  be  an  in- 
dependent republic,  and  its  status  as  such  was  so 
recognized  by  most  of  the  powers.  Since  the  Civil 
War  not  more  than  two  or  three  thousand  American 
emigrants  have  reached  this  black  republic.  It  has 
languished,  not  only  from  lack  of  immigrants,  but 
from  lack  of  industrial  foundation.  It  has  suffered 
greatly  from  wars  with  the  surrounding  popula- 
tions, from  encroachments  by  the  French,  and  from 
disasters  of  government  financeering.  The  fiscal 
conditions  of  the  republic  became  so  serious  in  1909 
that  President  Roosevelt  appointed  a  commission 
to  investigate  and  report  what  might  be  done  to 
give  relief.  Negotiations  were  set  on  foot  for  the 
adjustment  of  the  Liberian  debt,  and  the  placing  of 
United  States  officials  in  charge  of  the  customs.  An 
agreement  was  reached  in  1912  whereby  the  Amer- 
ican government,  acting  in  concert  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, France  and  Germany,  would  assume  charge  of 
the  republic's  finances,  its  military  organization,  its 
boundary  question,  etc. 

The  Liberian  Republic  has  been  severely  criti- 
cised for  its  failure  to  make  more  substantial  prog- 
ress, and  its  lack  of  missionary  spirit  in  reference 
to  the  surrounding  natives.    Within  fifty  miles  of 


292  THE  NEGRO  EACES 


the  coast  cannibalism  is  rife  and  women  go  naked. 
Nevinson  characterizes  the  republic  as  a  subject  fit 
only  for  a  comic  opera. 

Shall  we  say  that  this  republic  has  failed  because 
it  has  been  attempted  by  the  Negro  race?  An  af- 
firmative answer  would  certainly  not  be  justified  by 
the  facts.  It  may  be  admitted  that  the  Negro  race 
has  never  shown  any  aptitude  for  self-government, 
and  that  a  few  thousand  of  them  just  emerged  from 
slavery  could  not  be  expected  to  display  very  bril- 
liant statesmanship.  But  even  if  the  republic  had 
been  founded  and  guided  by  a  white  race  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  outcome  would  have  been  very  different. 

From  a  sociological  point  of  view  it  may  be  laid 
down  as  a  law  that  republics  in  equatorial  regions 
do  not  flourish,  no  matter  what  race  may  undertake 
them.  Liberia  has  an  equatorial  climate.  Although 
much  of  the  hinterland  is  hilly  and  even  mountain- 
ous, it  is  subject  to  equatorial  rains  and  has  a  trop- 
ical flora  and  fauna.  Man  is  overcome  by  the  hu- 
midity; and  the  bounty  of  nature  does  not  stimulate 
him  to  that  exercise  of  muscle  and  brain  which, 
everywhere  in  the  temperate  zones,  conduces  to  the 
development  of  reason,  foresight  and  self-control. 
His  passions  predominate  over  his  intellectual 
powers,  and  he  acquires  those  peculiar  character- 
istics of  indolence  and  instability  which  everywhere 
distinguish  tropical  and  sub-tropical  races  and  unfit 
them  for  self-government. 


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INDEX 


INDEX 


Abortion,  among  the  Bantus,  168. 
Abstract  Ideas,  of  Africans,  95,  97. 
Abyssinia,  37,  42.    (See  North  Cattle 
Zone.) 

Acquisitive  Instinct,  more  powerful 
among  agricultural  than  among 
pastoral  people,  223. 

Activity,  effect  of,  upon  size  of  the 
brain,  70. 

.Esthetic  Life,  in  the  several  zones, 
29,  65,  92,  111,  145,  219,  265;  of 
savage  and  civilized  people  com- 
pared, 148. 

Affection,  between  parents  and  chil- 
dren, 52,  75,  78,  132,  168,  204, 
226,  241 ;  between  husbands  and 
wives,  52,  84,  167,  241;  excep- 
tional cases  of,  153,  204,  242. 

Africa,  the  birthplace  of  man,  288. 

Aged,  regard  for  the,  52,  242. 

Agriculture,  influence  of,  upon  men- 
tal development,  95,  upon  canni- 
balism, 196 ;  influenced  by  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  i27. 

Air.     (See  Atmosphere.) 

Altitude,  effect  of,  upon  color  of  skin, 
126;  upon  tattooing,  145,  upon 
culture,  189,  upon  character,  132. 

Altruism,  among  Negroes,  35,  153, 
189,  204.  242,  272. 

Ancestor  Worship,  existence  of,  29, 
60,  139,  212,  256;  nomadic  life 
not  favorable  to,  29;  island  life 
favorable  to,  29 ;  origin  of,  139, 
174;  stages  in  the  development  of, 
174. 

Anger,  value  of,  117. 

Animals,   as  beasts  of  burden  influ- 

encingthe  status  of  women,  25. 
Animal  Worship,  28. 
Animism.     (See  Fetichism.) 
Arabs,  intermixture  of,  with  Negroes, 

18  ;  conquests  of,  107  ;  influence  of, 

18.  30,  40,  43,  59,  89,  129. 
Architecture,  effect  of  climate  up,  24. 

51. 

Area,  of  home  of  a  race  determined 
by  ethnic  differences,  160 ;  influen- 
cing migration,  20. 

Aristocracy,  influence  of,  134;  dimin- 


ishing value  of,  with  civilization, 
135. 

Art,  influence  of  climate  upon,  30, 
31,  112;  of  fear  upon,  113;  imi- 
tating nature  in,  68. 

Asia,  Negroes  of  southern,  283;  peo- 
ple of,  compared  to  Africans,  74, 
76. 

Aspects  of  Nature,  influence  of,  upon 
man,  28,  61,  62,  91,  113,  223, 
255 ;  not  admired  by  the  Kafir, 
268. 

Assimilation,  of  culture  by  the  Ne- 
gro, 275. 

Atmosphere,  effect  of,  upon  disposi- 
tion, 74,  upon  energy,  32,  105, 
121. 

Augury,  90,  260.  (See  Religious 
Life.) 

Authority,  of  chiefs  effected  by  the 
dependence  or  independence  of  the 
tribe,  134. 

Bahima,  the  Normans  of  Africa,  42, 
55. 

Bain,  on  the  relation  of  fear  to  re- 
pulsion, 115 ;  on  stimulations  to 
action,  224. 

Banana,  influence  of  the,  upon  eco- 
nomic life,  99. 

Bantus,  of  the  forest  zone,  77;  of 
the  banana  zones,  124,  156;  of  the 
manioc  zone,  194;  of  the  southern 
cattle  zone,  234;  original  home  of 
the,  159. 

Beehuana,  struggle  of,  against  the 
Zulus,  254. 

Beasts  of  Burden,  political  impor- 
tance of,  208. 

Blackmar,  on  the  value  of  repulsion, 
117. 

Boers,  war  of,  against  the  Zulus, 
247. 

Boundaries,  of  a  race  affecting  its 
industries,  164. 

Bounty  of  Nature,  affecting  indus- 
try, 19,  100,  127,  160,  163,  196. 

Bourne,  on  the  white  man's  influence 
in  the  Congo,  227. 

Brain,    relation    of,    to  intelligence. 


304 


INDEX 


113,  (See  Psychological  Charac- 
teristics.) 

Brinton,  on  the  evolution  of  religion, 
256. 

Brotherhood,  extension  of,  35,  74,  97. 
( See  Psychological  Characteris- 
tics.) 

Buckle,  on  the  diminishing  influence 
of  fear,  109 ;  on  the  influence  of 
climate  upon  man,  121. 

Buganda,  Negro  culture  in,  125. 

Burial  Customs,  216.  (See  Cere- 
monial Life.) 

Burke,  on  the  element  of  fear  in  art, 
110. 

Cannibalism,  among  the  Negroes,  81, 
161,  196,  292;  influenced  by 
scarcity  of  meat,  100,  128,  by 
scarcity  of  salt,  82,  by  lack  of  em- 
ployment of  war-captives,  128. 

Caste,  among  the  Nubians,  23,  26, 
the  Gallas,  45,  48,  59,  the  Niam- 
Niams,  87,  the  Bantus,  209,  245. 

Cattle,  influence  of,  upon  economic 
conditions,  42,  235,  upon  political 
conditions,  53,  247. 

Caucasian  Race,  origin  of,  288 ; 
mixture  of,  with  the  Negro,  158 ; 
compared  to  the  Negro,  280. 

Ceremonial  Life,  in  the  several  zones, 
23,  29,  63,  64,  65,  91,  110,  143, 
182,  216,  262. 

Chaka,  great  Negro  captain,  248. 

Characteristics,  common  to  all  races, 
75 ;  vary  for  each  race  according 
to  environment,  222,  279.  (See 
Psychological  Characteristics.) 

Charms,  Omens,  Signs.  (See  Reli- 
gious Life.) 

Chastity,  among  the  Nubians,  23,  the 
Gallas,  48,  49,  75,  the  Niam-Niams, 
83,  the  Monbuttus,  103,  the  Ban- 
tus, 130,  202,  240. 

Children,  care  of,  by  parents,  52,  75, 
78,  132,  168,  204,  226,  241;  sale 
of,  164,  201,  239;  put  to  death, 
205,  262. 

Christianity,  its  effects  upon  the  Ne- 
gro,  18,   138,  154,   192,  228,  280. 

Civilization,  its  effects  upon  the  Ne- 
gro, 154,  192,  227,  275,  282. 

Class  Control,  value  of,  134,  191;  in 
Africa,  133,  200;  among  civilized 
people,  106,  135,  201. 

Class  Feeling,  48,  88,  123,  209. 

Climate,  its  effects  upon  republics, 
292;  iipon  dress,  112,  147,  183; 
upon  self-control,  271;  upon  physi- 
ognomy, 19,  158,  235;  upon  de- 
velopment of  the  brain,  70 ;  upon 


religion,    212;    upon  government 

and  conquests,  105,  292 ;  upon 
idealism,  98;  upon  mood,  188; 
upon  energy,  105,  121;  upon  emo- 
tion, 191,  280;  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  Africa,  277 ;  upon  in- 
stincts, 224 ;  upon  architecture, 
203 ;  upon  slavery,  164. 

Closson,  upon  the  superiority  of  the 
dolichocephalic  type,  95. 

Cole,  on  the  future  of  the  Negro,  276. 

Color  of  Skin,  question  of  superior- 
ity of  light-colored,  40,  123,  133, 
195,  207;  effect  of  altitude  upon, 
126;  of  light  upon,  100,  158.  235. 

Communication,  affecting  the  form 
of  government,  87,  105,  169;  the 
spread  of  common  virtues,  35,  97, 
190 ;  political  control,  169 ;  the  de- 
velopment of  caste,  209 ;  religion, 
212. 

Competition,  as  expressing  the  pug- 
nacious instinct,  36. 

Complexity  of  Life,  influencing  the 
pugnacious  instinct,  36,  274,  and 
curiosity,  120;  lack  of,  arrests  de- 
velopment, 98,  274. 

Conscience,  as  a  means  of  control,  97, 
274. 

Consciousness  of  Kind,  119. 

Conservation  of  Resources,  46,  73, 
103,  198 ;  as  affecting  the  struggle 
between  individuals,  85. 

Control,  of  self  influenced  by  excite- 
ments, 225. 

Cooley,  on  the  influence  of  commu- 
nication upon  caste,  209 ;  on  in- 
fluence of  fellowship  upon  the 
agreeableness  of  work,  23 ;  on  the 
difference  between  savage  and  civ- 
ilized people,  35,  75 ;  on  the  value 
of  resentment,  117;  on  the  value 
of  an  aristocratic  class,  134;  on 
the  value  of  mystery,  141 ;  on  the 
hostility  of  civilized  people  towards 
aliens,  34,  191;  on  ceremony,  143. 

Courage,  affected  by  conditions  of  ex- 
i.stence,  28,  154,  187,  269;  of  the 
Negro  compared  to  that  of  the  In- 
dian, 154. 

Cowardice,  influenced  by  isolation, 
31. 

Cranial  Capacity,  of  the  Negro  in  the 
several  zones,  31,  69,  94,  113,  148, 
186,  222,  268;  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  71 ;  of  the  Assyrians  and 
Babvlonians,  71 ;  relation  of,  to  ac- 
tivity, 70. 

Crime,  of  savage  and  civilized  people 
compared,  136;  increase  of,  with 
civilization,  136. 


INDEX 


305 


Criminal  Law,  an  expression  of  so- 
cial anger,  136. 

Crowd,  influence  of,  143.  (See  Pop- 
ulation.) 

Cureau,  on  the  imitativeness  of  the 
Negro,  188;  on  the  effect  of  an 
open  country  on  music,  226 ;  on 
generosity,  227. 

Curiosity,  as  a  factor  in  gregarious- 
ness,  119;  instinct  of,  120,  223. 

Dancing,    68,    112,    147,    185,  217, 

221.  (See  .^^sthetic  Life.) 
Darwin,  on  the  habitat  of  the  first 

man,  287. 
Dealey,  on  the  value  of  slavery,  164. 
Deformation  of  the  Person,  30,  66, 

92,  111,  183,  219.  265. 
Democracy,  failure  of,  in  the  tropics, 

292. 

Demons.     (See  Spirits.) 

Deserts,  foster  raiding,  26;  produce 
the  fatalistic  spirit,  28 ;  effect  the 
imagination  and  intelligence.  32, 
and  the  distribution  of  culture,  21. 

Despotism,  conditions  favoring,  27, 
56,  105;  a  characteristic  of  youth, 
55,  170. 

Dewey,  on  the  mythology  of  hunters, 
180. 

Devter,  on  the  influence  of  winds 
upon  temper,  191;  of  atmosphere 
upon  energ>'.  32;  of  climate  upon 
self-control,  271. 

Dingan,  a  Negro  captain,  252. 

Dingeswayo,  Negro  captain  who  in- 
troduced the  English  military  sys- 
tem, 248. 

Disposition.  (See  Temper;  Mood; 
Psychological  Characteristics.) 

Division  of  Labor,  in  the  several 
zones,  24,  46,  51,  83,  102,  129, 
163,  200,  238. 

Dowry,  47,  204,  239. 

Drama,  origin  of,  68,  94;  examples 
of  the,  94,  221. 

Dreams,  spirits  seen  in,  174;  divina- 
tion through,  62;  ideas  of,  175. 

Dress,  origin  of,  93. 

Dullness  of  Life,  influencing  cere- 
mony, 143,  262,  and  the  emotions, 
152. 

Dunn,  on  the  influence  of  pastoral 
life  upon  brain  development,  95. 

Economic  Life,  in  the  several  zones. 
19,  42,  80,  100,  127,  160,  196, 
235. 

Education,  effect  of,  upon  the  Negro, 
229. 


Electrical  Atmosphere,  effect  of,  upon 

the  mind,  32. 
Electrical     Power,     influencing  the 

status  of  women,  25. 
EUwood,  on  the  transition  from  the 

matriarchate    to    the  patriarchate, 

205 ;    on   the    acquisitive  instinct, 

224. 

Emulation,    a   result   of   the  pygna- 

cious  instinct,  72. 
English,  war  of,  against  the  Zulus, 

253. 

Environment,  effect  of,  upon  physi- 
ognomy, 19,  158,  292,  upon  mind, 
71,  upon  social  life,  277.  (See 
Climate;    Land;  Temperature.) 

Envj",  an  obstacle  to  Negro  progress, 
272. 

Ethnological  Relations  of  the  Negroes 
of  Africa  and  of  the  East  284. 

Exogamy,  origin  of,  103.  (See  Fam- 
ily Life.) 


Family,  support  of  the,  in  the  sev- 
eral zones,  24,  51,  84,  131,  167, 
241. 

Family  Life,  in  the  several  zones,  23, 
47,  78,  83,  103,  130,  165,  201. 
239. 

Fans  or  Fang,  159. 

Fear,  manifestation  of,  28,  61,  62,  71, 
108,  151,  174,  223,  269;  the  re- 
straints of,  151;  social  value  of, 
108 ;  among  civilized  people,  109 ; 
an  element  in  religion,  62,  90; 
affects  the  character  of  music, 
112;  affected  by  mood,  113;  a 
factor  of  gregariousness,  119. 

Feelings.     (See  Passions;  Moods.) 

Fetichism,  90,  108,  139,  172. 

Fire  Worship,  213. 

Flight,  instinct  of,  113. 

Folklore,  of  the  Indian  and  Negro 
compared.  154 :  character  of  in 
Africa.  154,  269. 

Forces  of  Nature,  in  religion,  172. 

Foresight,  in  the  several  zones,  46, 
73,  78,  95,  149,  189.  224. 

Forest,  effect  of  upon  color  of  skin, 
100.  upon  political  empire.  56,  105, 
upon  the  form  of  government,  105 ; 
upon  temper,  191. 

Form  of  Government,  influenced  by 
environment.  87,  105.  292. 

Form  of  Head,  influencing  aggressive- 
ness. 95. 

Free  Love,  49.  204. 

Frobenius.  on  the  influence  of  islands 
upon  ancestor  worship,  29.  upon 
fire-worship,    213 ;    on   the  failure 


306 


INDEX 


of    the    practical    arts    to  reach 
Nubia.  21. 
Future  Life,  notion  of  the,  63,  179, 
181,  261. 

Future  of  the  Negro  Race,  155,  193, 
232,  281. 


Gallas.  17. 

Gambling,  origin  of,  121;  influenced 
by  hunting  and  pugnacity,  121. 

Geographic  Factors,  affecting  race, 
277;  religion,  59:  government,  54, 
56,  85.  137,  207,  208,  244.  and 
character,  226. 

Giddings,  on  the  character  of  dif- 
ferent traditions,  33 ;  on  types  of 
character.  31.  74,  122,  152,  187; 
on  the  diminishing  sense  of  fear. 
109 ;  on  likeness  as  a  factor  in 
grouping.  119. 

Goat,  social  influence  of  the,  19. 

Gods,  nature  of.  173,  256;  origin  of 
the  beneficent.  213;  oiisiin  of  the 
sky,  212,  257. 

Goodrich,  on  the  future  of  the  Negro, 
230. 

Government,  origin  of,  170;  form?  of, 
affected  bv  conditions,  27,  87,  105, 
132.  208,  292. 

Grandparents,  respect  for.  242. 

Grass,  influencing  the  limits  of  em- 
pire, 56,  86,  206,  208.  and  the 
mobility  of  people,  28. 

Gregarious   Instinct.    118,    119,  149. 

Groups,  in  their  effects  upon  char- 
acter, 96.  122,  153 ;  difference  be- 
tween savage  and  civilized.  34 ; 
size  of.  affecting  caste,  88 ;  mental 
development,  118,  and  domestic 
virtues,  96. 


Hall,  on  the  relation  of  crime  to 
civilization,  136.  , 

Hausemann,  on  the  relation  of  brain- 
weight  to  iutellisence,  69. 

Hero  Worship,  2  75. 

Heterogeneity,  influencing  caste,  209. 

Hirn,  on  the  origin  of  tattooing,  265. 

Homes,  character  of.  24,  50,  84,  103, 
131,  166.  203.  240. 

Homogeneity,  affecting  integration, 
85 ;  political  stability.  107. 

Hostility,  of  civilized  people  towards 
aliens.  34,  75,  190:  of  Negroes 
towards  aliens.  75,   115,  190. 

Humor,  value  of.  226. 

Hunting  Life,  unfavorable  to  political 
stability.  170;  transition  of,  to 
agricultural,   196;   effect  of,  upon 


gambling,  121;  upon  ceremony, 
182;  upon  instincts,  120;  upon 
religion,  180. 

Huntington,  on  the  traits  of  Asiatics, 
33,  76;  on  the  contrast  between 
nomads  and  sedentary  people,  32 ; 
on  the  effect  of  isolation  upon  na- 
tional feeling,  33 ;  on  conserva- 
tism, 120 ;  on  the  effect  of  nomad- 
ism upon  women,  25. 

Idealism,  influenced  by  climate,  97, 
98.  and  political  conditions.  270, 
275. 

Idleness,  75. 

Idol  Worship,  relation  of,  to  ances- 
tor worship,  142 ;  varies  with  dis- 
tance from  the  equator,  216:  ex- 
tent of,  28,  113.  142,  179.  259. 

Illegitimate  Children,  23,  240. 

Imagination,  influenced  bv  climate. 
98,  114,  151,  188.  225:'  effect  of, 
upon  sympathy,  35 ;  constructive, 
190.  226.  275;  influenced  by  de- 
sert conditions,  32 ;  by  the  strug- 
gle for  existence,  61. 

Imitation,  188;  in  art,  68. 

Indian,  compared  to  the  Negro,  154. 

Indolence,  a  factor  in  the  form  of 
government,  105. 

Inequality,  effect  of,  upon  ceremony, 
91,  143 ;  upon  government,  27,  56, 
208. 

Infanticide,    168.   242,  244. 

Inheritance  in  the  several  zones,  25, 
53.  103,  137,  168,  205,  242. 

Inhibition,  power  of,   150,  224,  271. 

Instincts,  strength  of,  among  the 
Negroes,  114,  280.  (See  Psycho- 
logical Characteristics.) 

Integration,  factors  of,  54,  85,  206. 
(See  Political  Life.) 

Intelligence,  relation  of,  to  size  of 
brain.  69.  149.  186;  affected  by 
struggle  for  existence,  31,  149;  in- 
fluence of  pastoral  life  upon,  31. 

Interdeiiendenoe.  influencins  morals, 
98.  274:  political  stability,  211, 
and  the  form  of  government,  133. 

Islands,  foster  ancestor  worship,  29. 

Isolation,  effect  of.  upon  the  instinct 
of  repulsion,  116:  upon  conserva- 
tism, 120;  upon  national  feeling, 
33;  upon  art,  31;  upon  charac- 
ter, 31,  95;  power  of,  among 
races.  118. 

Jews,  shrewdness  of,  due  to  depriva- 
tions. 32. 

Johnston,  on  the  motive  for  absti- 
nence. 151;  on  the  degeneracy  of 
the  Negro  in  L'^ganda,  155;  on 
Negro  ceremonies,  217;  on  the  dif- 


INDEX 


307 


ficulty  of  educating  the  Negro, 
229. 

Judicial  Procedure  in  the  different 
zones,  27,  57,  74,  88,  96,  107, 
135,  171,  210,  246. 

Kafir,  234. 

Keane,  on  the  birthplace  of  man, 
288. 

Kidd,  on  Kafir  characteristics,  274; 
on  ancestor  worship,  242. 

Kingsley,  on  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity upon  the  Negro,  229 ;  on 
exogamy,  166;  on  African  pray- 
ers, 175;  on  the  superstitions  of 
the  Fans,  179 ;  describing  the 
Fans,  187. 

Kinship  Groups,  characteristics  of, 
96,  122,  153,  189,  225,  271. 

Lakes,  influencing  political  stability, 
136. 

Lang,  on  the  origin  of  exogamy, 
103 ;  on  the  irrational  element  in 
myths,  178 ;  on  the  origin  of  the 
coat-of-arms,  246. 

Language,  of  the  Bantus,  158 ;  a  ba- 
sis of  political  unity,  58,  107,  244; 
as  indicative  of  race  history,  160. 

Lapouge,  on  the  superiority  of  light 
colored  peoples,  133. 

Leaders,  factors  developing,  86,  105, 
244,  270;  value  of,  275. 

Liberian  Republic,  discussion  of,  290. 

Light,  effect  of,  upon  man,  100,  158, 
235. 

Likeness,  as  a  factor  in  grouping, 
119. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  humor  of,  226. 

Man,   early  existence  of,   286;  first 

habitat  of,  287;  migrations  of  the 

palsBolithic,  287. 
Marett,   on  moral  evolution,  97 ;  on 

the  origin  of  secret  societies,  172 ; 

on  the  origin  of  the  taboo,  151. 
Marriage,    trial,    50.     (See  Family 

Life.) 
Masai,  38,  41,  42, 

Matriarchate,  transition  of,  to  the  pa- 
triarchate, 205. 

Matrilineal  Family,  8,  205. 

Matrilocal  Family,  201. 

McDougall,  on  the  notion  of  punish- 
ment after  death,  63 ;  on  the  ori- 
gin of  beneficent  gods,  62 ;  on  the 
pugnacious  instinct,  72,  96 ;  on  the 
relation  of  morals  to  religion,  180; 
on  ideal  conduct,  98 ;  on  the  ac- 
quisitive instinct,  223;  on  the  in- 
fluence of  fear,  109 ;  on  the  atten- 
tion   of    primitive    man    to  evil 


spirits,  173;  on  the  gregarious  in- 
instinct,  118,  119;  on  the  social 
effects  of  war,  273;  on  the  effects 
of  civilization  upon  the  savage, 
276. 

Military    Life,    effect   of,    upon  the, 

family,  48,  75, 
Minstrels,  94, 

Missionaries,  influence  of,   138,  154, 

192,  228,  281, 
Mohammedan  Influence,  28,  50,  59, 

91,  108,  138, 
Monbuttu,  99, 

Money,  origin  of,  146;  kinds  of,  44, 
83,  102,   129,  200, 

Mongolian,  origin  of,  288, 

Monotony,  effect  of,  upon  ceremonv, 
143,  262;  upon  the  mind,  28,  152, 

Montaigne,  on  the  instinct  of  repul- 
sion, 116, 

Montesquieu,  on  the  relation  of  re- 
ligion to  environment,  155, 

Mood,  of  the  Nubians,  31;  of  the 
Gallas,  72;  of  the  Monbuttu,  122; 
of  the  Bantus,  152,  187;  influ- 
enced by  fatigue,  32;  influence  of, 
upon  music,  112,  226;  upon 
idealism,  98. 

Morals,  relation  of,  to  religion,  180 ; 
influenced  by  fear,  115;  by  repul- 
sion, 117. 

Mosilikatsi,  great  Negro  captain,  245. 

Moshesh,  Negro  captain,  255,  270. 

Mountains,  effecting  political  expan- 
sion, 54. 

Music,    influenced    by  environment, 

30,  31,  112,  225,  226. 
Mystery,  value  of,  192,  223. 

Natural  Selection,  in  brain  develop- 
ment, 70, 

Nature,     worship     of,      213.  (See 

Aspects  of  Nature.) 
Negritos,  284. 

Negro,  capacity  of,  for  civilization, 
278;  effect  of  civilization  upon  the, 
154,  192,  227,  275,  282;  unfavor- 
able situation  of,  277;  compared 
to  the  white  man,  82,  280;  origin 
of  the,  285. 

Negro  Traits,  stealing,  76,  272;  W- 
ing,  272;  loyalty,  97,  225; 
treachery,  115;  vanity,  76,  153; 
indolence,  102;  incontinence,  150; 
improvidence,  164;  truthfulness, 
225;  love  of  offspring,  52,  104, 
132;  altruism,  76,  272;  hostility, 
75,  115;  envy,  272. 

Negroes  of  the  East,  283;  of  Libe- 
ria, 290. 

Niam-Niam,  79. 


308 


INDEX 


Nomadism,  effect  of,  upon  women, 
24,  50;  not  favorable  to  the  plas- 
tic arts,  30;  effect  of,  upon  brain 
development,  31;  upon  religion, 
179. 

Nubians,  origin  of,  17;  conquests  of, 
89. 

Old  Men,  scarcity  of  168,  171;  re- 
spect for,  52,  242, 

Open  Countries,  favor  culture,  189, 
206 ;  expand  sympathy,  227 ;  fa- 
vor polytheism,  212;  favor  politi- 
cal federation,  244;  effect  of,  upon 
disposition,  227 ;  upon  religion, 
212;  upon  music,  226. 

Ordeal,  90,  97,  171,  176,  215. 

Origin,  of  spirit  belief,  212;  of  the 
professions,  94,  177;  of  polytheism, 
212;  of  tattooing,  265;  of  secret 
societies,  172;  of  ancestor  worship, 
174;  of  sun  worship,  213;  of  fire 
worship,  213;  of  the  drama,  68, 
94 ;  of  coat-of-arms,  246 ;  of  ideal- 
ism, 98 ;  of  government,  170 ;  of 
science,  152,  177 ;  of  punishment 
after  death,  63 ;  of  dress,  93 ;  of 
exogamy,  103 ;  of  philosophy,  177 ; 
of  the  instinct  of  repulsion,  116; 
of  money,  146;  of  gambling,  121; 
of  cannibalism,  62,  100;  of  slav- 
ery, 22. 

Palaeolithic  Man,  287. 

Parental   Care.     (See  Family  Life.) 

Passions,  relative  supremacy  of,  72, 
95,  149,  271,  192. 

Pastoral  Life,  influence  of,  u'^on 
chastity,  50 ;  upon  government, 
53 ;  not  favorable  to  brain  devel- 
opment, 31;  influence  of,  upon 
character,  33 ;  upon  ceremony,  63. 

Patriarchate,  origin  of,  205. 

Patrilineal  Family,  205,  242. 

Patrilocal  Family,  202. 

Patten,  on  the  survival  of  instincts, 
72,  116;  on  the  influence  of  en- 
vironment upon  race  character, 
279. 

Philosophy,  origin  of,  152. 
Plow,   influence  of,  upon  polygamy, 
240. 

Political  Life,  in  the  several  zones, 

26,  53,  85,  132,  168,  206,  245. 
Political    Stabilitv,    elements   of,  58, 

89,  107,  170,  244. 
Polyandry,  conditions  favoring,  48. 
Polygamv,    conditions    favoring,  23, 

48,   78,   83,    103,   130,    166,  262, 

240. 
Polytheism,  59. 


Population,  density  of,  80,  100,  133, 
138,  169,  172;  density  of  influ- 
encing ceremony,  64,  110,  143;  ex- 
cess of  in  cities,  118;  proportion 
of  men  to  women  in  the,  30;  ex- 
cessive increase  of,  21,  26,  169. 

Prairie,  eft'ect  of,  upon  religion,  212; 
develops  ceremonies  connected 
with  sex,  262. 

Prayer,  62,  223 ;  diminishing  the 
importance  of  the  magic  man,  61. 

Preville,  on  the  origin  of  cannibal- 
ism, 236. 

Priests,  origin  of,  108. 

Progress,  reasons  for  failure  of,  in 
Africa,  277. 

Property,  ownership  of,  75,  238 ;  ef- 
fect of,  upon  the  matriarchate, 
205 ;  upon  the  form  of  govern- 
ment, 27,  206 ;  upon  caste,  209. 

Psychological  Characteristics,  in  the 
several  zones,  31,  69,  94,  113, 
148,  186,  222,  268. 

Puberty,  effect  of,  upon  mental  de- 
velopment, 229. 

Pugnacity,  social  importance  of,  96; 
of  civilized  people,  96 ;  of  the  Af- 
ricans, 36,  72,  95,  115,  149,  187, 
222,  274. 

Punishment   after   Death,    origin  of 

the  idea,  63. 
Pygmies,  in  Africa,  127;  in  Europe, 

284;  in  the  East,  284. 

Quatrefages,  description  of  the  first 
man,  288. 


Race   Development,    dependent  upon 

environment,  277. 
Race  Mixture,  19,  40,  78,  126,  158, 

222  235 
Race  Prejudice,  48,  83,  101. 
Reasoning,     influenced     by  feeling, 

151,  271. 

Religion,  united  with  morals,  180;  in 
the  several  zones,  28,  59,  90,  108, 
138,  172.  212,  255. 

Repulsion,  instinct  of,  115,  274;  in- 
fluenced by  isolation,  116;  social 
value  of,  116,  117,  274. 

Revenge,  192.  (See  Judicial  Pro- 
cedure.) 

Ribet,  on  the  emotions,  31,  152,  279. 
Rivers,   affecting  political  expansion, 
85. 

Ross,  on  the  relation  of  custom  to 
fear,  270;  on  the  social  value  of 
fear,  155;  on  the  value  of  aristoc- 
racies, 134 ;  on  the  value  of  pro- 
longed associations,  275. 


INDEX 


309 


Sacrifices,  human,  60,  142,  179,  214, 
234,  258;  animal,  60,  142,  214. 

Schweinfurth,  description  of  the 
Niam-Niam  warrior,  86 ;  of  a  Ne- 
gro minstrel,  94 ;  of  the  Monbuttu 
people,  100;  on  cannibalism.  101. 

Science,  origin  of,  152,  177. 

Sebituane,  great  Negro  captain,  249. 

Secret  Societies,  171,  162;  origin  of, 
172. 

Sedentary  Life,  affecting  the  family, 
201.  and  the  feelings,  225. 

Self-abasement,   114,  149. 

Self-control,  related  to  climate,  292. 
(See  Inhibition.) 

Self-display,  social  value  of,  191;  re- 
acting injuriously,  191. 

Semites,  origin  of,  288, 

Semple,  on  the  influence  of  steppe- 
lands  on  mobility,  53 ;  on  the  ge- 
ographic factors  of  culture  distri- 
bution, 160;  on  the  instability  of 
African  governments,  211;  on  the 
influence  of  dry  air  upon  the 
mind,  32;  on  the  disappearance  of 
the  Indians  in  America,  170;  on 
the  effect  of  monotony  upon  the 
mind,  32;  on  the  hindrances  to 
progress  in  Africa,  277;  on  the 
influences  of  national  boundaries 
upon  indiistry,  164;  on  the  possi- 
ble extermination  of  the  Negro, 
155 ;  on  the  influence  of  steppe- 
lands  upon  marauding  tendencies, 
27. 

Sensuality,   affected  by  idleness,  50. 

(See  Passions.) 
Sex  Ceremonies,  peculiar  to  pastoral 

regions,  262. 
Shrubsall,  on  the  cranial  capacity  of 

the  Negro,  148. 
Sky  Gods,  origin  of,  212,  257. 
Slave   Trade,   effect  of   abolition  of, 

127,  129. 
Slavery,  origin  of,  22 ;  effect  of,  upon 

women,  25 ;   in  the  several  zones, 

21.  22,  43,  44,  46,  102,  164,  201, 

236. 

Small,  on  the  value  of  rivalrj',  96. 
Sergi,  on  the  pygmy  race  in  Europe, 

284;   on   the   Mediterranean  type, 

69 ;    on    the   origin   of   the  white 

race,  288. 
Social  Control,  by  tradition,  33,  97; 

by  ideals,  97. 
Somali,  38. 

Spencer,  on  the  relation  of  idolatry 
to  ancestor  worship,  142 ;  on  the 
origin  of  the  professions,  94,  177, 
215,  221. 

Spirits,  origin  of,  212;   attention  of 


savages  to,  173,  176;  activities  of, 
175,  213,  255.  (See  Religious 
Life.) 

Steppe  Regions,  foster  raiding,  26, 
53. 

Strangers,  treatment  of,  34,  65,  75, 
153,  189,  227,  272. 

Struggle  for  Existence,  affecting 
brain  development,  31,  149;  af- 
fecting intelligence,  271;  the  emo- 
tions, 152;  religion,  61,  90,  179: 
sympathy,   31,   272,   and  art,  148. 

Stiickenberg,  on  the  feelings  of  civ- 
ilized people,  110;  on  the  effects  of 
contrasts  in  people,  119. 

Sumner,  on  education,  229;  on  the 
value  of  slavery,  164;  on  the  ef- 
fect of  civilization  upon  the  lower 
races,  276;  on  the  origin  of  slav- 
ery, 23 ;  on  class  government, 
106;  on  the  perseverance  of  prim- 
itive peoples,  122 ;  on  the  origin 
of  dress,  93 ;  on  the  influence  of 
opportunity  upon  caste,  209 ;  on 
the  gregarious  instinct,  119;  on 
the  motives  of  abstinence,  151;  on 
the  book-learning  superstition, 
229 ;  on  the  influence  of  industrial 
progress  upon  women,  25. 

Superstition,  factors  determining,  28. 

Suspicion,   fostered  by   isolation,  31. 

Sympathy,  how  restricted  in  Africa, 
85,  97,  190,  273 ;  extension  of,  af- 
fected by  communication,  35,  97, 
190. 

Tattooing,  origin  of,  265. 
Temper,    influenced  by  environment, 
73,  191. 

Temperament,  organic  nature  of, 
279. 

Temple,  origin  of,  108. 

Thomas,  on  the  origin  of  the  profes- 
sions, 177,  215,  221;  on  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  matriarchate,  205 ; 
on  sexual  division  of  labor,  105 ; 
on  the  instinct  of  repulsion,  116; 
on  the  origin  of  dress,  93. 

Torture,  a  higher  form  of  justice 
than  ordeal,  136,  210. 

Totem,  origin  of,  176;  uniting  effect 
of,  169,  246. 

Tradition,  an  imperfect  form  of  con- 
trol, 97;  character  of,  33. 

Transmigration  of  souls,  175,  256. 

Troubadours,  94. 

Tsetse  Fly,  influencing  the  life  of  the 
Negro,  79,  160,  206,  247. 

Tucker,  on  the  obstacles  to  Negro 
progress,  154. 

Tylor,  on  totemism,  169. 


310 


INDEX 


Uganda,  125. 

Uniformity  of  Phenomena,  influenc- 
ing mind,  32. 

Verner,  contrasting  the  light  and 
dark  races  of  Africa,  123. 

Virtues  of  the  kinship  group,  96, 
122,  225,  271. 


Waganda,  126. 
Wahuma,  41. 

Wanyamwesi,  the  Yankees  of  Africa, 
199. 

War,  "English-Zulu,  253;  Boer-Zulu, 
247;  influencing  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment, 105;  value  of,  96,  123, 
273. 

Ward,  Lester,  on  the  value  of  in- 
stinct as  a  guide,  121.  , 

Wealth,  influence  of,  upon  political 
control,  27,  56,  208. 

Weariness,   influencing   idealism,  98. 

Weatherly,  on  the  effect  of  civiliza- 
tion upon  the  lower  races.  276. 

Webster,  on  secret  societies,  171, 
182. 


Williams,  on  the  moods  of  men,  32, 
98. 

Winds,  effect  of,  upon  temper,  191. 

Witch-Doctor,  activities  of,  in  the 
several  zones,  28,  61,  91,  92,  108, 
140,  174,  176,  177,  214,  259;  in- 
fluence of  climate  upon,  174;  as  a 
hero,   141,  142 ;  origin  of,  260. 

Wives,  how  obtained,  47,  64,  83, 
103,  130,  165,  201,  239;  support 
the  familv.  131,  167,  241;  dowry 
of,  47.     (See  Family  Life.) 

Women,  work  performed  by,  24,  45, 
51,  83,  102,  129,  163,  200,  203, 
238;  status  of,  25,  52,  83,  201. 
(See  Family  Life.) 

Woodruff,  on  the  effect  of  tropical 
life  upon  brain  development,  70; 
on  the  influence  of  light  upon 
color  of  the  skin,  159. 

Youth,  supremacy  of,  among  hunters, 
78,  170;  despotism  of,  55. 

Zandeh,  80. 

Zulu,  army  of,  246;  origin  of  their 
wars,  247. 


Date  Due 

